Project Darkness
by Jowy's Pixie
Summary: This was it. Sonic was finally going to respect her. Amy grinned at the thought as Eggman pulled out a large file from his desk and began flicking through it. "If you want to take part in my project then I'll need you to spy on that blue pest and report back. Only then can my plan finally work. Can you do that?" Amy smirked evilly. "I can."
1. You're Such a Nuisance

**This is pretty much a re-make of my old story 'Shining Emeralds'. I've tidied up the storyline seen as the other one wasn't going anywhere and I took this one in a slightly new direction. So I hope you like it.**

**Rated T for some mild language, violence and for darker tones later on. **

**I own nothing! All the characters are owned by SEGA and no copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made out of this; I'm just writing this for fun.**

* * *

**~ PROJECT DARKNESS ~**

* * *

**1: You're Such a Nuisance **

"Attention citizens of Station Square! You are now under my rule and this will become the capital of the new Eggman Empire. Your only options are to surrender or die!" Doctor Eggman cackled into the microphone of his mech overlooking the large city as his Egg Pawns marched in, terrifying the people below.

"You just don't give in do you Egghead?" A familiar cocky voice yelled from the top of a huge skyscraper. The blue hedgehog smirked as he folded his arms over his chest with the sunset behind him giving the appearance of a halo around his head. The sound of a plane could be heard before the Tornado zoomed across the sky, carrying Sonic's friends as they came to his aid.

Eggman groaned. "I should've known it wouldn't have taken long for you to show up."

"Well, I am the fastest thing alive." Sonic boasted, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on his hips sassily, angling his face into the evening breeze, making his quills blow back dramatically.

"Are you sure you're not all talk Sonic?" Eggman taunted. "These new robots have been especially upgraded to resist your attacks from data I have taken from our previous battle. Call it a little gift from me to you."

"A little present just for me? You really shouldn't have Eggman. I'm gunna cry." Sonic sniffed and pretended to wipe a tear away. "Ok then, let's see what they've got."

Sonic leaped off the top of the skyscraper, jumping from building to building as he ran down to the ground where the army of Egg Pawns were waiting. They clearly looked more heavily armoured, but rather than feel threatened, Sonic couldn't wait for the challenge.

Eggman watched from high above, quickly pulling out his notepad and pen and began writing in shorthand the events in front of him. His eyes moved quickly from Sonic to the notebook and back again with the sound of an engine fast approaching him.

"Whoa!" Eggman gasped as he pulled back just in time for the Tornado to fly straight past him. "Honestly some drivers nowadays." He angrily shook his fist at the plane carrying Sonic's little squad.

Amy Rose glared down at the robots that Sonic was effortlessly tearing through despite Eggman boasting about how much he'd upgraded them. The blue blur didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat, but still he was grossly outnumbered and Amy wanted to get down there and protect him at all costs.

The pink hedgehog curled her fingers tighter around the wing of the plane, waiting for Tails' signal with anticipation. The wind whipped through her quills, stinging her eyes slightly as Tails dipped the plane around, ready for them all to jump off.

"Ready, GO!" Tails yelled over the roar of the engine and Amy didn't need telling twice.

She quickly let go of the wing and let gravity do the rest, reaching out to summon her trusty hammer before landing gracefully on the concrete ground. A few robots directed their attention towards her and instantly had her surrounded. Knuckles the Echidna smashed down next to her, slamming his powerful fists into the ground causing huge cracks.

"You wanna piece of this!" Knuckles swung forward, easily taking them out and Amy joined in, smashing her way through robots in order to get closer to her blue hero. No mere Eggman robots were going to keep them apart.

Sonic just realised there was a robot sneaking up behind him as Amy's large red hammer knocked it to one side where it smashed through the glass of an apartment building.

"Thanks Amy." Sonic smiled before running down the street causing Amy's heart to flutter. She'd managed to impress him slightly, if she could keep this up then maybe he'd finally start taking more notice of her. Her plan appeared to be finally working.

Chasing the blue hedgehog down the street, they both skidded to a halt when they saw Eggman hovering above them, yawning.

Sonic smirked up at him. "Tired of making robots that I can always defeat no matter what?"

"You wish." Eggman grunted in annoyance.

"Bah! Some updated robots they were. Piece of cake."

Eggman just smiled innocently. "Oh you thought I meant those robots? No, I meant this one." The mad scientist pressed a button in his mech and the ground began to vibrate. Sonic and Amy both stared at each other, Amy looked worried whilst Sonic seemed unfazed before they both turned towards the source of the sudden crashing noises coming from behind a large restaurant.

A ten foot tall, heavily armoured red robot charged around the corner, trampling on cars with its large metal feet causing alarms to go off and for broken pieces of glass and metal to go flying in all directions.

"A new toy to play with just for me." Sonic chuckled as he crouched into a fighting stance. "Let's see what this pile of scrap metal can do."

"Oh I'd be careful if I were you Sonic. The Egg Alpha was designed to be specifically undefeatable by you. You remember I told you about the data I stole from you? Well guess what I used it on." Eggman grinned mischievously.

Amy's green eyes lit up. This was it. This was her chance to impress him.

"Yeah well, you didn't put my data into it did you? Don't worry Sonic, I've got this." Amy laughed as she charged towards the large robot, hammer held high the air as she let out a battle shriek.

"Amy wait!" Sonic pleaded as his pink friend ran forward, noticing the huge fatal flaw in Amy's logic.

Amy leaped into the air, ready to hit the robot head on, but with one easy flick of its giant hand, it knocked her across the street. Her body slammed into a building, breaking through the glass of some offices where a few hiding civilians screamed in terror. Amy's arm erupted into incredible pain and she felt some blood trickle down her nose, staining the white collar of her dress as she tried to massage the pain out of the right side of her body where the robot had hit her.

"AMY!" Sonic cried out before growling lowly and curling into a spin dash all while Eggman continued to make notes. Sonic briefly wondered what the crazy doctor was writing that kept him so occupied, but he didn't have time to worry about that now. He needed this fight to be over quickly before anyone else got hurt.

He dashed towards the robot in a blue blur, but simply bounced off the thick metallic armour; luckily Sonic managed to land back on his feet.

Amy managed to pick herself back up and, ignoring the pain in her side, picked up her hammer and dived in front of Sonic, shielding him from the robot. She began swinging her hammer at it, but her hammer had no effect. In fact, it rarely even left a dent.

"Amy, just stop it and get out of the way." Sonic ordered, clenching his fists in frustration. Not this again. He appreciated Amy trying to help, but right now, she was just getting in the way.

"It's fine, I can do this." Amy said in a strained voice as she continued to swing her hammer.

If robots had emotions, this one would be bored out of its mind as it effortless flicked Amy off its body again, sending her crashing into Sonic.

"Oooof" Sonic grunted as the force of Amy's body colliding with his at high speed sent them both flying backwards. Sonic's back smashed against the concrete wall, leaving him feeling slightly winded.

Eggman just sat there and laughed. "I've seen all I need to see today." He said in a bored tone as he stopped laughing. "Come Egg Alpha, let's go. Some other time, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Eggman flew away with the Egg Alpha running after him.

Sonic frowned and roughly pushed Amy away from him before he stood up and brushed any debris out of his quills and fur. Amy groaned and rubbed the back of her aching head. Seeing the blood stain on Amy's white collar made Sonic clench his teeth and hiss in an unfamiliar emotion. This made his anger boil up at how Amy had almost gotten herself killed, causing Eggman to get away yet again.

Tails and Knuckles came running over with victorious smiles on their faces.

"Those robots weren't as tough as they looked." Knuckles smirked arrogantly.

"Indeed." Tails agreed as they fist bumped before turning to look at a dirt covered Sonic and Amy. Sonic especially was very sour looking as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"What happened to you guys?" Knuckles asked. "And where's Eggman."

"He got away." Sonic muttered impatiently through gritted teeth.

"What? How?" Tails gasped.

Sonic pointed at Amy who was just getting up off the floor. "Ask her."

"Hey!" Amy shrieked, offended. "I was only trying to help. Plus, can we focus on the fact that it was weird for Eggman to suddenly back away from a fight like that?"

"Uh, why does that matter? As far as I'm concerned, I lost a fight because of you getting in the way - again." Sonic could feel himself reaching the end of his tether with the pink hedgehog. He felt slightly guilty for talking to her like that, but it was true. If she hadn't gotten in the way he could've taken that robot down easily. He was tired of this happening and then it made him look bad and incompetent in front of everybody else.

Amy gasped. "I was only trying to protect you."

Sonic snorted as he folded his arms across his chest. "I don't need protection._ You're_ always the one that needs protection. Constantly running into battles like that with little to no training. You can't always rely on that hammer and that's what gets you into so much trouble and then I have to be there to rescue you. I can't always do two things at once. That's why Eggman keeps getting away recently."

Tails and Knuckles watched awkwardly from the side-lines.

"Guys please – " Tails tried to reason before being interrupted.

"I highly doubt that it's one hundred percent my fault." Amy glared at her crush, both of the hedgehogs ignoring their friends.

"Yeah well this time it definitely was. I don't know what's gotten into you lately Amy, but you've been out of control and all over the place."

Amy bit her lip awkwardly. Sonic hadn't picked on up on her behaviour the way she hoped he would. She wanted him to be impressed with her more active involvement. She wanted to rescue him for once instead of it being the other way around. The need to be noticed by him in a positive way was unbearable as normally he just looked straight through her as if she wasn't there. Looks like her schemes to get him to notice her were backfiring badly. Now Sonic obviously deemed her weirder than ever before. Amy managed to bite back the tears that were threatening to form in her jade green eyes.

"Yeah well maybe it's the new me." Amy retaliated. "I'm not going to be the sweet damsel in distress forever; maybe I'm just growing up."

Sonic rolled his eyes. If that was Amy's goal then it sure wasn't working. The girl had messed up the last five battles with Eggman. Every time Amy just seemed to completely lose her mind in the fight and Eggman would always get away as a result. Then Sonic was the one getting blamed by the citizens who looked to him as their saviour and protector of their peace.

"Well you're doing a really good job then." Sonic said sarcastically, voicing his thoughts without thinking about what he was really saying. "You've ruined every previous fight and I've got the blame for it. You're such a nuisance and you always have been." Sonic finally snapped after bottling in all of his hurt pride for the past few weeks.

Amy gasped and took an automatic step back as if Sonic had slapped her across the face. Knuckles and Tails glared at Sonic for losing his temper like that. No matter what Amy did, they were all still friends and it wasn't like Amy did anything on purpose.

The pink hedgehog bit her lip as her sobs threatened to escape, but she managed to choke out, "Fine, if that's how you feel. I'll get out of your way then." She turned around and ran down the badly destroyed street and disappeared as she turned the corner.

"Smooth, Sonic." Knuckles muttered lowly. "Real smooth."

Sonic's frown dropped into an expression guilt as the reality of what he had said came crashing down on him. He didn't mean for it to come out that harshly, but what he said held some truth. Amy had done nothing but ruin things lately with her erratic behaviour.

"Yeah well, she'll get over it." Sonic sighed before running off in a blue blur to be alone with his thoughts.

After all, Amy always did get over things like this quickly. Right?

* * *

**First chapter done. Feel free to let me know what you thought of it by leaving a review. **


	2. Matter of Pride

**Thank you to everyone who has already reviewed, followed and added this story to your favourites. The support is much appreciated. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**2: Matter of Pride **

The sun had just set behind the horizon, giving Angel Island a purple hue in the clear approaching night. Stars began twinkling in the sky, the luminous gas in the galaxy could be clearly seen due to the lack of light pollution from cities, making it look like the sky was full of pixie dust. The moon was large and full as it beamed down on the two figures near the shrine of the master emerald: a bored looking red echidna and an impatient, pacing blue hedgehog.

Knuckles sighed as he leaned back against one of the stone pillars as Sonic continued to ramble at what had occurred hours ago. He just couldn't understand why Sonic was getting so wound up over this. Yes he had said some terrible things to her, but that seemed to be the least of the blue hedgehog's concerns right now.

"What does that girl think she's playing at?" Sonic snapped as his pacing became slightly more manic.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I don't know Sonic." He answered lazily, wishing his friendly rival would leave him alone.

"She's been acting weird for days." Sonic mused, his pacing coming to a sudden stop before placing a hand on his chin in thought. "This is probably another one of her schemes to get me to date her. But how does throwing herself in harm's way help? She was so stupid today; she could've been killed!"

"Sonic, I think you might be over-reacting slightly. Amy's a big girl now, she can take care of herself." Knuckles finally took a more active involvement in the conversation.

"Seeing her covered in blood." Sonic shuddered, ignoring Knuckles' previous statement.

"It was only a small nosebleed!"

Sonic continued to ignore him. "Is she out to prove something? She seriously needs to knock it off. I'm sick of her getting captured and hurt all the time. How can I fight Eggman when I'm constantly worried about what Amy's up to?"

Knuckles' eyes widened before he smirked knowingly. "Oh, I see what this is all about."

Sonic shot him a confused look.

"This isn't just about Eggman getting away is it? I think a certain blue hedgehog is a little overprotective of another certain pink hedgehog." Knuckles teased wiggling his eyebrows.

"Overprotective? Of Amy? Please!"

Knuckles sighed. "Sonic, you haven't shut up about Amy since you got here over an hour ago. Have you tried looking for Amy to apologise?"

Sonic folded his arms stubbornly. "And what do I need to apologise for?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you insulted her and made her cry?"

"All I did was tell the truth. I admit that it came out a lot harsher than what I intended, but Amy'll get over it. She always does."

"Uh huh, and are you sure about that?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Well yeah because it's Amy."

"I don't know Sonic. Sometimes you can only push people so far before they finally snap." Knuckles commented as he stood up straighter and turned to look at the night view of the forest surrounding the shrine. The only source of light was from the moon and the stars and the dimly glowing master emerald.

"You only require a little push." Sonic joked.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled angrily, swinging his fist around to punch Sonic in the face. Sonic easily jumped out of the way before smiling and gesturing to Knuckles to prove his point.

"Wise guy." Knuckles grumbled to himself as he stormed back over to stand next to the emerald.

"If you want my advice – "

"I really don't." Sonic interrupted, but Knuckles ignored him.

"I'd apologise to Amy if I were you. She is your friend after all and she was only trying to help."

Sonic pouted in frustration before casually smiling. "Whatever. It's Amy. She always comes running back."

And with that, Sonic took off leaving a cloud of dust behind him where he was just stood.

"And he calls me hard-headed." Knuckles grunted.

Sonic continued running just under the sound barrier as he thought about what Knuckles had said to him. There was no way he was overprotective of Amy. He was angry that she had gotten in the way again. Yeah. That had to be it. But still…seeing her get beat up by that robot made Sonic's stomach churn enough to put him off eating chilli dogs...and that was saying something. That girl seriously needed to calm down and stop trying to impress him in such eccentric ways. First it was all the boxercise training, then the extreme gear riding and now this? He had to admit that the girl was determined and admired her for her commitment. Yet he would rather that she didn't try so hard. It always made him feel awkward and whenever she was near, it always made him feel weird. Maybe that's why he acted so irrationally earlier?

The wind blowing through his quills felt refreshing and he quickly tried to banish Amy from his mind, but the image of her broken expression when he yelled at her dug its claws into his brain and refused to move.

He'd really hurt her.

Running for fun became the last thing on Sonic's mind now as he began paying more attention to his surroundings, looking for a sign of anything pink. His feet unconsciously carried him towards Amy's home before he even registered what he was doing. Maybe he should just swallow his pride and apologise. Now that he's calmed down and the running had cleared his head slightly, he now realised what a jerk he had been to her. He didn't really view her as a nuisance. Quite the opposite. She meant more to him than he would ever dare tell her in case she got the wrong idea. Despite often feeling weird around her, he could identify that it was warm and fuzzy. Most of the time he liked that feeling. The bubbly hedgehog's happiness was so infectious. Sure he hated it when she chased him around, but hey, he would even admit that it could be fun sometimes…unless she was angry.

He just hoped she wouldn't knock him out with her hammer as soon as he approached. Then again a part of him felt like he did deserve it for the way he spoke to her.

Sonic slowed into a brisk jog as he began making his way down the old cobble stoned pathway that led to the small cottage Amy resided in. This place had Amy written all over it. Behind the low, white picket fence was a garden full of flowers in full bloom. Honeysuckle was beginning to weave its way up the stone walls, forming an archway over the slightly rounded door that was painted a faded shade of pink. No lights were on and Sonic wondered if she was asleep.

He hopped over the gate before knocking three times on the wooden pink door and tapped his foot as he waited for any signs of life inside. No answer. Sonic frowned slightly as he stepped to the right to peak through the downstairs window and squinted his eyes to pear into the deserted and dark sitting room. It didn't look like Amy had been home for hours. His frown deepened at the thought of Amy being out and about at such a late hour – especially with Egghead's attacks becoming more frequent. There he goes again.

Mentally slapping himself for worrying too much, he decided that she might have gone to spend the night at Cream's place. That seemed like something Amy would do. Whenever she was upset, Cream was the first person she went to.

Nodding at the plausibility of his explanation, Sonic hopped into the tree growing just outside her house and settled himself for the night. As soon as she came back, he could catch her and apologise. With his feet resting across the branch in front of him, Sonic slouched further against the tree trunk before yawning and falling into a deep sleep.

.

"Stupid stupid stupid!" Amy wailed as the quick and powerful swing of her hammer once again smashed another tree in half. "How could I be so stupid?!"

She burst into another round of tears as Sonic's hurtful words continued to echo through her head. The scorned pink hedgehog had been out in the middle of the woods for hours, smashing up trees and rocks in her fit of rage. She hated the way only Sonic could do this to her. Only he could spark up such hyperbolic reactions to situations he placed her in. Why did she continue to let him do this to her.

Amy collapsed on the ground as her hammer's handle slipped out of her grip and fell limp on the thick grass that was now bathed in moonlight thanks to Amy's tantrum destroying all the surrounding trees. The silver light glittered off Amy's pink fur, reflecting off her heartbroken tears as she gasped for air whilst she sobbed. No one was around so she let it all out. All of the pent up emotion burst through her cracked walls. She curled up into a tight ball on the floor in the hopes that it might somehow hold the pieces of herself together as the pain threatened to tear her apart.

Did Sonic really think that she was that much of a nuisance?

The truth really did hurt. She had been so blinded by the need for his attention that she didn't think about what kind of attention she was actually getting due to her actions towards him. He was freaked out by her. She supposed she only had herself to blame. Amy had wanted him to see her in a new light lately; a strong, independent woman who could take care of herself. The exact opposite happened. Never had she looked more childish and desperate and the very thought embarrassed her to the point that she wanted to hide in these woods forever. How could she ever face him again?

Her tears finally subsided and Amy forced herself to sit up and look around. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had hid herself out here. With a sigh, she realised the only way to start proving how strong and grown up she actually had become was if she would stop crying, get a grip and face her problems head on with maturity and dignity.

A new wave of confidence filled her as she debated what to do next. No more temper tantrums for starters and clearly no cramping on Sonic's style in battle. There had to be a more subtle way to get his attention. A way to earn his respect and make him eat his previous hurtful words to her.

She wasn't going to be the nuisance any longer.

The sound of a twig snapping nearby suddenly caught her attention. Her little pink ear twitched in the direction of the sound. She grabbed her hammer and leaped to her feet. Her instincts kicked in as she kept her eyes locked on the spot the noise came from. Was it a threat? Or had Sonic finally come to apologise. She wasn't sure how she was going to react to the latter. In fact she didn't know why she was getting her hopes up that it might be the latter. Sonic could never swallow his pride.

Amy kept her posture stiff and firm, clinging onto her hammer tighter in the sudden deafening silence. No animal could be heard, which was strange. What ominous presence could do such a thing? Unless she'd scared them all off earlier; she hadn't really been paying attention. The feeling that someone or something was watching her refused to vanish and she wondered if her self-esteem hitting rock bottom had made her even more paranoid.

She risked lowering her hammer slightly as she looked around. Jade green eyes scanned the darkness behind the wall of trees that surrounded her. Nothing happened.

Finally relaxing, Amy put her hammer away only to regret it instantly. Her scream of terror was captured by a strong gloved hand being placed over her mouth. Her panicked thrashing was stopped by a firm grip around her torso that pinned her arms to her side.

"Don't scream, just shut up and listen!" A familiar harsh voice hissed from behind her. She knew that voice. She hadn't heard it in months.

Her escape attempts stopped and her captor, once he realised she wasn't going to try anything funny, released her and Amy relaxed again slightly before turning to face him.

"Shadow?" Amy hissed in annoyance. "You frightened me."

Shadow just shrugged, not caring, and folded his arms over his chest. His ruby red eyes scanned the surrounding area before raising an eyebrow at the destruction that Amy had caused. He never questioned it aloud though.

"Amy Rose, just the girl I was looking for." Shadow said coyly, his face an expressionless mask. That's when Amy knew he meant business.

"You've been looking for me?" Amy asked, looking uncertain as Shadow's mere presence was enough to intimidate her slightly.

Shadow finally smirked at her. "I have a proposition for you."

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinion.**


	3. A New Alliance

**Thanks for all of the reviews guys, I really appreciate the feedback.**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**3: A New Alliance**

"Uhhh no no no!" Doctor Eggman growled in frustration as he scribbled out his latest notes. The pencil lead snapped under the pressure of his tense hand, stabbing a hole through the centre of his hypothesis. Eggman quickly scooped up the paper and scrunched it into a tight ball before throwing it towards his overflowing trash can where it bounced back onto the floor.

"Boss, you've been working none stop for days. Maybe you should take a break?" Orbot dared to interrupt his master while he was stressed.

Eggman slammed his fists down on his metal desk in frustration. "I have no time for tea breaks, I need to get this project up and running soon. I've been working on this for months and I still haven't got anywhere with it!"

The mad scientist knew that this would finally be the plan that would beat Sonic the Hedgehog once and for all. It was taking months of careful research, filming and recording the blue pest in battles and taking notes of everything that Eggman could see him doing. No matter what, Sonic was always able to defeat him; not even his most dangerous weapon, Metal Sonic, could get the job done. That hedgehog clearly possessed a lot of power that not even Sonic himself seemed aware of his potential. Sonic had even defeated Gods for crying out loud. Sonic didn't even seem to utilise his full potential as Super or Hyper Sonic either. He always seemed to be holding back to prolong the fight for fun. However, there was one thing that had caught Eggman's attention…

"This plan of yours is clearly incredibly risky though, even by your standards." Orbot said as he hovered closer to Eggman. "This could dangerously backfire."

"Don't you think I'm aware of the risks?" Eggman snapped. "This project is definitely worth it, I just need to find a way to activate it. I've tried everything! I've thrown every robot I've got at that blue speed demon and still with poor results. I'm clearly doing something wrong."

Eggman wandered over to his large chalkboard, placing his hands behind his back as he looked deep in thought at the diagrams of the chaos emeralds. He didn't have time to juggle looking for the chaos emeralds and spying on Sonic at the same time.

"Clearly I'm going about this all wrong." Eggman admitted. "There is some crucial piece of information that's missing."

"And what's that?" Orbot asked.

"His personal life. I know what Sonic's like in battle, but I have no idea what that hedgehog gets up to when I'm not around to interrupt. That could be the missing link in my project that I need to defeat him as an enemy."

Orbot cocked his head in confusion. "So you're going to become friends with him?"

Eggman laughed evilly before shaking his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Sonic would never let his guard down when I'm around. I need to get him when he's acting his most natural, when he's not on guard. I need someone who he can trust to be able to spy on him, only I have no idea how I'm going to manage to do that."

There was a sudden knock on the thick metal door that interrupted Eggman's brainstorming. The door slowly opened and Cubot peeped his head around, looking slightly nervous.

"Hey boss, you'll never believe this, but someone is here to see you." Cubot said in an unsure tone.

Eggman sighed before walking over to sit back down on his desk chair.

"Well send them in and it better not be those pushy charity people again; my trap door still needs fixing."

Cubot pushed the door fully open to reveal a small, familiar pink hedgehog stood next to the yellow robot. Eggman gasped before pulling a laser gun out of his desk drawer and aimed it at the girl. Amy didn't react as she stood there with her fists clenched tightly at her sides and a fierce expression on her face.

"Relax, I'm not here to attack you." Amy announced, but Eggman didn't lower his weapon.

"Then what do you want?" He asked. What could Sonic's crazy girlfriend possibly be doing here if she wasn't going to attack him? "Where's that idiotic boyfriend of yours."

Amy flinched slightly at Eggman's comment, but managed to remain focused. It was all depending on her now.

"He's not here."

Eggman finally lowered the weapon slightly. "Well I don't think he'll be too happy about you being here, especially after the fuss you made at our last battle." He chuckled.

"Yeah well I don't care about that blue idiot anymore." Amy snapped.

Bursting out into a fit of laughter, Eggman placed the weapon down onto the desk and adjusted his blue glasses slightly. "Finally, something we agree on."

Amy waited for his laughing fit to die down.

"But seriously though Miss Rose. You still haven't answered my question; what _are _you doing here? Has Sonic finally told you how much of a waste of space you are?"

"In a sense, yes."

"Really?" That one had caught Eggman off guard. He never got the impression that Sonic actually hated the girl.

"So I'm here to join you."

Ok, this day was turning out a lot weirder than Eggman had expected it to. Amy was the last person that Eggman expected to join him. That girl worshipped the ground Sonic walked on and teaming up with his arch nemesis would most definitely not score her points with the speed demon.

Amy's heart thudded in her chest as she processed Eggman's lack of reaction. Was this plan not going to work? What would she do if he turned her away? Her heart sped up even more as Eggman leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk and intertwining his fingers.

"I'm listening."

The pink hedgehog held in a sigh of relief before speaking. "I've had it with those lot. Obviously Sonic thinks I'm a worthless waste of space and after the way he's treated me, I want revenge. You're the only person who can see him for who he really is. An arrogant pest who hogs all the glory. You are much more worthy of my services."

Eggman smiled as she flattered his ego. "How do I know this isn't some sort of scheme?"

"I'll prove my loyalty in any way possible." She answered quickly, walking forward to stand in front of Eggman's desk, her passionately angry green eyes burned into Eggman's. "Sonic has lead me on for years, only coming to me when he needs something only to drop me the next second. I've had enough. He's really hurt me. I want to see that boy suffer the way I have; I want revenge."

Her fingers were pressed tightly against the desk as she spoke with clenched teeth. Her ears were flattened with rage and her quills rose slightly before she took a deep breath through her nose to calm down.

Eggman, Orbot and Cubot watched with fascination at the once cheerful and bubbly girl before them. Eggman raised an eyebrow at her. It looked like Sonic had played with her emotions for the last time. Twisting the poor girl into a revenge driven maniac. Eggman narrowed his eyes as he stared at her face, still debating on whether she was lying or not. She was panting slightly and her eyes remained hard as steel, the strength of her grip on his desk left small imprints in the hard metal.

This girl could obviously be useful in some way.

That's it!

It was so brilliant that Eggman nearly fell out of his chair at the thought. The love of Sonic's life working for _him. _The thought of using her against his arch enemy would be the most wonderful form of justice that Eggman could ask for. He'd asked for help with his project and now he had gotten it. Amy was perfect for this! His plan was finally coming together. Project darkness was back on and ready to go. One of the largest hurdles had now been crossed and now Eggman just needed to use this new weapon in front of him to access all the unlimited information on Sonic he could. The possibilities were now endless.

"Then by all means Pinkie, you can join me in my cause."

Amy smiled wickedly. This was it. Sonic was finally going to respect her. She couldn't wait to see his reaction once she finally revealed what she had done.

Amy grinned at the thought as Eggman pulled out a large file from his desk and began flicking through it, being careful to not let Amy see inside. He looked through a few of his notes carefully before looking up and smiling innocently at Amy.

"Actually, you've come at just the right time my new little minion."

Amy reached into the pocket of her red dress before pulling her fingers back out again and placing a hand on her hip.

"Oh really?"

Eggman nodded as he placed the file away again. Clearly that was not meant for Amy's eyes.

"Because I've been developing a plan that, shall we say, Sonic will have no choice to bow down to in the end." He let out a light chuckle. "A little project I have been working on for a while. However, I need to create the appropriate conditions in order for this project to become a success. So far I've had no such luck, but now with you on side, I have the advantage again."

Amy nodded as she listened carefully with great interest.

"For this to work I've decided that my first best bet is collecting the all the chaos emeralds. In my absence I need you to do some little tasks for me."

"What is this project?" Amy asked slightly timidly as her eyes flickered from the draw that contained mysterious file and back to Eggman. Eggman just smiled and patted her head in a patronising manner.

"All in good time my dear."

Amy decided not to push her luck for now. If this plan of his forced Sonic to notice her and prove that she wasn't a mere nuisance then she was all for it and didn't particularly care right now. Her first task was to join Eggman, nothing more.

"If you want to take part in my project then I'll need you to spy on that blue pest and report back. If they come across a chaos emerald then sabotage their attempts to get it. I want to know everything about that hedgehog. Every tiny piece of information, no matter how trivial, I need to know. When I ask you to do something, you do it without question. Only then can my plan finally work. Can you do that?"

Amy smirked evilly. "I can."

.

"Amy!" Sonic gasped out as he woke up from his very uneasy sleep.

The sun had now risen over the horizon ready for the new day. It was another clear, warm spring's day and the flickies in the trees had begun singing. Completely juxtaposing the horrible dream that Sonic had just experience. It was fading from his memory and all he could remember now was that he was too late to save his friends from Eggman's clutches.

Sonic shook his head at the thought. He would never let that happen in a million years.

A whistling sound suddenly caught his attention. His ear twitched at the sound before he looked down from the tree he had crashed in and saw Amy walking up to her house, whistling to herself. This was his chance. He easily leaped down from the tree and dashed towards the front of her house, halting in front of her door and making Amy freeze in place once she saw him.

"Amy can we talk?" Sonic pleaded giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

Amy just sneered at him. "I have nothing to say to you." She knew what her job was but if she made this easy for him it might look a bit suspicious. Besides, she supposed it would be fun to watch him squirm under her angry glare.

"Well I have some things I would like to say to you." Sonic replied before Amy pushed him out of the way of her door and pulled her keys out. The lock clicked as she twisted them in the door and pushed it open to step inside. She was about to slam the door before Sonic's strong hand prevented her from doing so.

"Let go Sonic." Amy ordered as she tried to push the door shut. Sonic wouldn't relent.

"Oh no, you are going to hear what I have to say whether you like it or not."

Amy suddenly yanked the door open without warning, causing Sonic to stumble forward like an idiot before face planting the wooden floor of Amy's sitting room.

"This just proves it." Amy sighed, ignoring the pained groans of Sonic, still lying by her feet.

"Proves what?" Sonic's face was muffled by the floor before he looked up at her. She was looking down sadly, avoiding all eye contact with him. The sight squeezed at his heart and he quickly leapt to his feet. He reached out a hand to comfort her but the words she spoke next halted him in his tracks.

"That you only care about yourself. You're apologising so you'll feel better, to get rid of the guilt, rather than to make me feel better."

Sonic's eyes dropped to the floor and he rubbed the side of his arm awkwardly.

"That's not true." He mumbled. "I really didn't mean the things I said. I don't think that you're a nuisance. I just got caught in the heat of the moment and I know that's no excuse. I guess my pride was just hurt from Eggman getting the last laugh again and I took it out on you. I'm so sorry."

Amy looked up at him in shock of how sincere he sounded, but quickly dropped her gaze again before he could see.

"I forgive you." She whispered and Sonic looked up to beam at her.

He soon realised that Amy hadn't crushed him against her in her death hugs which was unusual. He was grateful for it though and took a hesitant step towards her and held out his fist in front of him.

"So are we cool?"

Amy giggled slightly before meeting his fist with hers.

"We're cool."

"Alright!" Sonic yelled happily, performing a miniature air guitar solo. "We should eat cake to celebrate our mended friendship. I'm starving!"

Amy rolled her eyes as she followed the blue blur into her kitchen. Sonic raided her cupboards until he found what he was hunting for.

"Cake for breakfast?" Amy asked in disbelief with an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Why not?" Sonic laughed as he got a knife out of the oak wood drawer and cut himself a huge piece. "Besides, your baking is the best."

"It's nice to know I'm useful for something." Amy muttered as she walked to stand next to him as he tried to judge what size to cut her piece.

"How big do you want your piece?" He asked. "Or are you on one of those weird girly diets?"

Amy huffed in irritation as she snatched the knife off him and cut herself a massive piece. Sonic's eyes widened slightly as she placed the piece on a floral patterned china plate.

"What? After the night I've had, I deserve a treat."

Sonic laughed as they made their way into Amy's cosy sitting room and sat down as far apart as they could on couch opposite the TV and stoned fireplace. Sonic propped his feet up on the coffee table before Amy frowned and kicked his feet off, causing Sonic to laugh again.

"You need to relax a little more."

"And you need to respect other people's property." Amy retaliated as she swallowed a huge bite nervously before suddenly losing her appetite. Sonic wolfed his down in seconds while Amy just pushed her leftovers around with her folk, feeling her eyes droop slightly as the sleepless night caught up with her.

"Listen, Amy," Sonic began, sounding anxious, "I still feel bad about what I did so maybe we could do something together? As friends?" He quickly added before she got the wrong idea. Taking her out to do something would be the least he could do after everything he had said to her. His stomach did summersaults at the thought of being alone with her and he put it down to the fear that she might interpret his actions and start telling people that it was a date.

"Yeah, that's fine." Amy replied sleepily, not really registering what her blue companion had said properly.

Sonic, surprised at the lazy tone of voice, turned around to see Amy slumping against the arm of the sofa. Her eyes drifted closed.

"Amy?" Sonic said. "Are you asleep?"

No reply. Amy's soft snores began to fill the room and Sonic smiled down at her. He reached down and took her plate off her and placed it on the polished, pristine coffee table before turning back around to stare down at her.

"You really are hopeless." He muttered and before he could stop himself, he brushed a stray quills off her face. Electric shocks travelled up his arm, but it wasn't unpleasant; it was warm and comforting.

Shaking his head at the weird direction his thoughts had taken, he quickly got up and headed out the door, leaving Amy to sleep peacefully. He would come back later when she was awake. Sonic gently closed the door behind him and made his way down the stone pathway, breathing in the scents of the many flowers and the fresh morning air.

Spending the evening with Amy couldn't be all bad, he hoped.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	4. Flour Fight!

**Thank you for the reviews! I'm not too sure when my next update will be given that Christmas is coming up, but I'll see if I can manage to update for this coming Sunday. **

**I own nothing!**

* * *

**4: Flour Fight!**

Sonic stood awkwardly at the end of Amy's street. His feet, for once, refused to carry him forward as he started to sweat nervously. Why did he offer to do this again? Mentally slapping himself, he reminded himself that he wanted to make it up to Amy. The idea of being alone with her for a long period of time made him feel uncomfortable, yet excited. He would occasionally get butterflies in his stomach at the thought and it confused the hell out of him. He eventually put it down to nervousness at the thought that Amy could very easily delude herself into thinking his act of kindness was due to him having feelings for her. Which he didn't!

Gulping and biting his lip, the blue hedgehog forced his feet to walk the rest of the way down the cobbled road and approached her house. The sun was just beginning to set so he figured that Amy would be awake by now. He was actually surprised that she hadn't started chasing him as soon as she woke up. Maybe she was still asleep? Either that, or Amy was acting weirder than he'd previously thought.

He took a deep breath and gently knocked on the faded pink door. Amy didn't answer, but he could definitely hear her talking inside; so she was awake. She sounded so…off? Sonic frowned as her tone of voice started to sound slightly distressed. Was she arguing with someone in there? Were one of Eggman's robots kidnapping her?

Sonic's heart lurched at the thought and he grabbed the doorknob and twisted – slightly surprised it was unlocked – before creeping his way towards the kitchen where Amy still continued to talk. Her voice became clearer and less distressed, but it didn't sound like anyone else was in the room with her. He turned the corner and stood in the doorway of the kitchen where Amy was stood with a large mixing bowl in her hand and her phone in the other, pressing it against her ear tensely with her back turned to him.

"You do know this isn't easy for me." Amy growled into the receiver. "I know I signed the contract and I intend to keep my word, but – …I didn't expect him to – …what if I get caught, then what?"

"Get caught doing what?" Sonic asked suspiciously and Amy screamed and turned around to face him, quickly hanging up and dropping her phone onto the wooden kitchen counter.

"Sonic, hi, errrr…getting caught over something Cream and I are planning to make for Vanilla." Amy smiled showing off her pearly white teeth.

"Oh right." Sonic grinned and winked at her. "Didn't mean to scare ya."

"No no it's fine." Amy replied a little breathlessly as she picked up a spoon and began stirring again. "Anyway not that I mind, but what are you doing here?"

Sonic's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean? I said I'd hang out with you and make up for what I did?"

"Oh," Amy looked confused for a second before smiling, "Yeah I remember now, sorry."

Sonic continued to stare at her with a perplexed expression. Was she…feeling alright? She was officially scaring Sonic now. Amy Rose had actually forgotten that she was supposed to be spending time with him? Ouch. Maybe this was how she felt when he forgot to show up for dates…wait what was he thinking? Why was he so bothered and slightly hurt by what she had said? Maybe it's just because it was so unlike her? _Or maybe I – _No, shut up!

"Ooooh, cake!" Sonic exclaimed childishly, pushing his earlier thoughts down as he spied the mixture Amy was currently folding in the bowl.

He was by her side in a nanosecond and was about to dip his finger in when Amy swatted his hand away.

"Hey back off." Amy giggled. "This stuff is for Cream's party tomorrow so I can't afford to get Sonic germs all over them."

"Rude." Sonic moaned as he rubbed his sore fingers. "So, what're ya baking?"

"Just a sponge cake and some cookies." Amy replied in a sing-song voice, pouring the mixture into a baking tin. "We were thinking simple, yet elegant. You are coming to the party right?"

"Of course." Sonic smiled, watching as she placed the tin of deliciousness into the oven. He sat himself comfortably down on one of the breakfast bar stools. Amy began flicking through her cookbook until she found the perfect cookie recipe.

"Need a hand?" Sonic offered and Amy stared up at him in astonishment.

"What? You? Baking?" Amy laughed, disparaging him.

Sonic shot her a playful glare. "Don't mock me girl, I'm the baking master."

"Have you ever even baked before?"

"Well, no."

Amy rolled her eyes as she reached down into one of the cupboards and pulled out another mixing bowl before placing it down onto the counter.

"But that doesn't mean I don't have a secret talent for it."

"So egotistical." Amy sighed as she scraped some butter onto the weighing scales, sticking her tongue out in concentration that Sonic found surprisingly cute. Wait, what? Her little button nose was also scrunched up in concentration as she also began weighing the sugar.

Sonic shook his head to clear it before he spoke again. "So, what can I do to help?"

"Hmmm," Amy thought, "Why don't you get the flour out of that cupboard over there?" She pointed to the one by the window that looked out into her flower filled back garden, although it was hard to see with the approaching night.

He grabbed the flower and stood next to Amy as he began to juggle the pack in his hand.

"Sonic, watch it!" Amy shrieked as Sonic caught it in one hand only for a huge cloud of flour to puff out in a white cloud, settling on Amy's face and dress, making her look like a ghost.

Sonic couldn't contain his fits of laughter as he dropped the pack onto the table. Amy looked like a very surprised ghost as she registered what Sonic had done and quickly glared at him.

Sonic stopped laughing to stare at her with unblinking, fear filled eyes. Now he'd done it.

To his surprise though, he was only greeted with a face full of flour as Amy scooped some into her hands and threw it at him, making Sonic cough slightly in the process. Amy laughed at the sight, clutching her sides as Sonic stood there with a bewildered expression before he began laughing with her. Sonic ran across the now slippery, flour covered tiled floor, skidding to a stop as he grabbed a hand full of flour and threw it at Amy's face like she had done to him, giving her another layer of the white powder to cover her pink fur.

"Sonic!" Amy laughed, her eyes glittering like emeralds in the sun as Sonic laughed hysterically at how covered they both were. "I swear there's more flour on us and on the floor than in all the cakes."

"Honestly, I thought you'd be mad that I'd got flour on your favourite dress." Sonic said as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

Amy waved her arm, signalling that it didn't matter. "Oh, it's all in good fun. It'll wash out."

Sonic smiled. She was way cooler than he'd originally thought. He expected her to go ballistic over making such a mess as she always seemed like such a neat freak.

"You're helping me clean it up though."

And there she goes. Sonic chuckled and nodded as he brushed some of the white powder off his body and off his gloved hands. Amy did the same before adding the left over flour in the pack into the cookie dough and began mixing it. She let Sonic crack some eggs into it which he actually manage to do without making a mess and then let him stir the rest of it.

"I'm such a stirring pro." Sonic grinned as he got the mixture to the right consistency.

"Indeed." Amy complimented as she took the bowl off him and began using a spoon and scoop bits of the mixture onto the baking tree she had just finished greasing. Once she had finished she placed them in the oven and then they both tidied up together.

Sonic never actually thought hanging out with her on her own would be so much fun. He couldn't even remember why he was so worried in the first place. She hadn't tackled him once during their time together and for once, she didn't even seem to be using any scheme to get him to notice her. She was actually just being herself tonight instead of going all giddy, weird and out of control which was what usually happened whenever she was around him.

Amy finished sweeping up before they both sat down next to the oven, waiting for the cakes and cookies to finish.

"You been sleeping alright?" Amy asked, looking slightly concerned as she stared at the small bags under Sonic's eyes.

Sonic rubbed them self-consciously before chuckling. "Just had a rough night, that's all."

"Me too." Amy mumbled and Sonic instantly began feeling guilty again. Thankfully, Amy quickly changed the subject. "So how come you had a rough night."

"I dunno." Sonic muttered apathetically. "Just a bad dream."

"Want to talk about it?" Amy offered, clearly interested in what could disturb the blue hero so much.

"I don't even remember that much." Sonic sighed. "I have it every now and then. It's just us battling Eggman and you all get defeated and I can't do anything but stand there and watch – I always feel so helpless." He didn't even though why he was sharing this with Amy, but she was just one of those people who you could easily talk to. She was so compassionate and understanding. Not a bad bone in her body. She wouldn't judge and Sonic liked that about her.

"That won't happen Sonic." Amy reassured him as she offered him a soft smile.

Sonic smiled back and got lost in her eyes before the timer went off making them both jump.

"The cake and cookies are done." Amy announced happily she put on her oven gloves, opened the door and pulled them out.

"They smell great!" Sonic's mouth watered as the sweet aroma filled Amy's small kitchen.

"Well you can't have any until tomorrow."

Sonic pouted.

"Not even a chef VIP taste?"

"Sorry Sonic."

Sonic huffed before he yawned and stretched, beginning to feel tired. He looked at the clock and gasped at how late it had gotten. He expected time to drag with Amy, but it had flown by.

"Wow, is it that late already?" Sonic voiced his thoughts. "I should get going. This was fun, we should hang out more often." He admitted before he could stop himself. He expected her to charge at him and hug him to death, but nothing happened. He turned his body to see what she was doing, but she had her back to him, appearing to be staring at her wrist.

However, as soon as Sonic looked her way she quickly turned back around to smile at him.

"Sure, I had a lot of fun."

"See ya around Ames." Sonic chuckled before seeing himself out and Amy let out a breath she didn't realise that she was holding.

.

"Took you long enough." Eggman snapped as Amy walked into the small field where he had been waiting for her for nearly an hour. "I thought I was never going to get hold of you. I haven't been able to speak to you since you left last night." He pointed impatiently at the wrist communicator he had hidden under one of her gold bracelets.

Amy glared at him in the darkness. The night was cloudy with the only source of light coming from the headlights on Eggman's mech and the flashlight that Amy had brought with her to find her way. Some bats fluttered off in the distance, but aside from that, the night was quiet and empty, ominous and enigmatic.

"I was spying on Sonic like you told me." Amy responded coldly. "I couldn't just drop everything and blow my cover."

"Humph." Eggman huffed as he crossed his arms over his egg shaped belly. "Report."

"Nothing much really." Amy began. "He seemed pretty crestfallen over what he said to me and offered to spend the evening with me to make it up to me. We ended up baking some cakes for a party, had a food fight – "

"Great." Eggman grunted. "Trust me to hire a minion who mixes business with pleasure."

Amy ignored his comment.

"Then just got talking about a re-occurring nightmare that he has."

"Ugh so nothing useful tonight then?" Eggman moaned as he unfolded his arms and tapped his fingers against the metal rim of his mech. The tapping echoed across the field as Eggman thought about what Amy had just told him.

Wait…a nightmare? A re-occurring nightmare? Eggman thought back to his university years and all the science classes he had taken. Re-occurring nightmares were usually a sign of stress or fear. So, it looked like the blue hedgehog wasn't so perfect after all. Eggman suddenly had a huge hunch that he was onto something big here. He adjusted his glasses as he smirked evilly and turned back to face Amy who was watching him with a very guarded expression.

"Did he happen to tell you what the nightmare was about?"

Amy nodded. "He just said it involved you defeating us while he was helpless to stop it."

Something clicked in Eggman's brain. "Of course. Why didn't I think of this before? But I'll have to run some little tests to be sure."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Oh nothing to worry about." Eggman smiled innocently at her. "You'll know it when it happens, but don't worry, I'll make sure you won't get harmed seen as you're my most valuable asset at the moment so when it happens you'll have to do some acting."

"Right…?" Amy frowned, still sounding unsure about what Eggman was planning.

"Thank you Amy. You have been most helpful so far." He congratulated her.

Amy merely smirked and nodded in response and turned to leave before Eggman's urgent voice stopped her.

"Hang on, I almost forgot. I've detected a chaos emerald somewhere in Tails' workshop. Be a dear and steal it for me would you? And be secretive about it. Wouldn't want your cover blown now would we?"

"Definitely not." Amy replied flatly. "I'll get you the emerald."

"Adda girl." Eggman praised in a patronising way. "After tomorrow, I'll be two steps closer to project darkness becoming a reality and with the results, I'll be able to rule the world and maybe even…the universe."

Eggman's evil laugh echoed into the dark, eerie night.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	5. Finding The Weakness

**Hey everyone! Do you like the new cover that GummyGal created? She's awesome and I highly recommend her. Thank you for the reviews; it's nice to see that no one seems to have any idea of what's going on. So no one picked up on my clues in the previous chapter? *laughs evilly***

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**5: Finding The Weakness**

"I think that's the last of it." Sonic said as he hung up the last streamer on the wall.

"Thank you dear," Vanilla beamed as Sonic hoped down from the table he was stood on, "Cream is going to love it."

"Don't thank me, thank Amy. She's the one who went nuts over the party planning." Sonic chuckled as he thought about the slightly manic little pink hedgehog, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly like they normally did whenever he thought about her – especially lately. Speaking of which, where was she anyway?

"Where is Amy anyway?" Sonic asked and Vanilla's smile faded slightly.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her all day. What if she misses Cream's entrance?"

Sonic sighed. "Don't worry, I doubt Amy would miss it for the world."

Sonic tried to hide the worry in his voice though. It was incredibly unlike Amy to disappear at moments like this. Emerald green eyes scanned the garden of Vanilla's house. Balloons and streamers were hung up everywhere with the largest having 'Happy Birthday Cream' in large red letters. The cakes and cookies that he and Amy had baked the previous night were on the food table, so clearly Amy had been here. The rest of his friends were getting the last things for the party ready. Knuckles and Rouge were arguing over something in the corner, Vector was in the music area, flirting with Vanilla while Espio and Charmy shook their heads. Tails was sorting the speakers and lights out and Blaze had come over to visit and now had the little rabbit out and about in town, distracting her. But no Amy. She was supposed to be head party planner.

"Yo Tails," Sonic called as he made his way over to his little brother, "Have you seen Amy anywhere?"

Tails looked around before looking back down at the blue hedgehog apologetically. "Sorry Sonic, but I haven't seen her for a while now. Maybe she went out to join Blaze and Cream so Cream wouldn't suspect anything?"

Sonic calmed down at the high possibility that Tails could be right.

"Sssh, they're coming!" Vector hissed into the microphone and everyone began ducking down and hiding behind objects.

"Says the guy shouting into a microphone." Charmy muttered sarcastically before Vector grabbed hold of the young bee's wings and pulled him down, hiding him behind a speaker.

Sonic hid behind a bush as he heard Cream's laughter get closer and closer. Everyone poised themselves before the back door opened.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled and jumped out from their hiding spots.

Cream giggled and clapped her hands merrily while Blaze smiled down at her. Amy was nowhere in sight though. Sonic frowned as he began to worry. Had she stepped out to get something and Eggman had got her? Sonic shivered at the thought as Cream and Blaze approached him.

"Thank you so much Mr Sonic." Cream sang as she threw her arms around Sonic's middle. Cheese cooed happily as he did little dance moves in the air. "It's so wonderful and kind of you to do such a thing for me." She let go of him and bowed in respect, but Sonic just waved her off.

"I can't wait to see Amy." Cream chirped before looking around in confusion. "Where is she anyway?"

Sonic cringed and leaned in to whisper to Blaze, "I thought she was with you?"

Blaze's yellow eyes widened before she whispered back, "I haven't seen her since this morning when I got here. Wasn't she supposed to help set up the party?"

"Yeah well she seemed to have disappeared hours ago and I'm beginning to worry that Eggman might have got her."

They suddenly realised that Cream was still expecting an answer.

"Oh, don't worry Cream." Blaze struggled to come up with an excuse. "I'm sure that Amy's just out buying some last minute things for the party."

"Yeah, she'll be back in no time." Sonic winked at her reassuringly, hating the fact that he was lying.

Cream didn't look too convinced. "That's not like Amy. She's normally very well organised."

_Dammit, _Sonic mentally cursed before stuttering to come up with another excuse. "Yeah, but Amy has a lot on her mind lately."

Cream finally seemed to be buying it. "Hmmm, I just hope she doesn't miss anymore of the party."

"Me neither." Sonic muttered as Cream skipped off to talk to Tails.

"I'm gunna go out and look for her." Sonic announced to Blaze.

"Need backup?" She offered.

"I think I'll be fine. Keep the party going. Amy has definitely been acting weird lately and I'm going to try and get to the bottom of it. If Eggman has got her, I'll handle it like always." Sonic said determinedly. "I swear if he's hurt one hair on her head…" He mumbled to himself as he ran off.

Blaze smirked. "It would be more than his life's worth."

Sonic followed the road, hoping to see any sign of Amy making her way back to the party. There was no sign of anything pink anywhere and Sonic began to really worry. How could she have just disappeared like that? His heart beat frantically in his chest at the thought that some sort of harm might have come to her. He would never forgive himself if he was too late. No. He couldn't afford to think like that. He would find her.

He zoomed past Tails' workshop before freezing when he heard rattling inside and something falling over. He ran back and paused outside the door. _Crash. _Yeah, someone was definitely in there. Sonic frowned at the thought of someone daring to intrude in his best friend's workshop.

Spin dashing his way in, the wooden door splinted apart into a hundred pieces, scattering everywhere. Sonic uncurled himself just in time to see the silhouette of a small figure in the darkness and tackled it to the ground. The intruder shrieked as they both rolled over the desk with Sonic managing to land on top and pin the intruder down by their wrists.

"What are you doing?!" A familiar voice shrieked from under him.

Sonic froze and his hold on the person's wrists loosened.

"Amy?"

"Who else?!"

Sonic gasped as his eyes adjusted to the darkness to see a very miffed looking Amy lying under him. His cheeks turned pink as he realised he was straddling her and quickly climbed off her.

"Ah geez, I'm so sorry Amy. I thought you were an intruder." Sonic gasped out awkwardly as he held his hand out to help the pink hedgehog stand up.

"What were you doing here anyway?" Amy demanded as she quickly bent down to swipe a piece of paper off the floor. For a moment it looked like one of Tails' analysis of his super state, but he couldn't be sure.

"Looking for you." Sonic replied as he folded his arms across his chest suspiciously. "Why did you run off? What have you been doing in here?"

"Too many questions." Amy huffed, avoiding his questions, shoving pieces of paper into her pocket.

Sonic stared at her in alarm as she refused to look at him. The horrible feeling in his gut that something wasn't right unleashed itself into his body full force. He felt it from his head to his toes. Amy was acting so strange and now she was taking it to a whole new level. The pink hedgehog wrapped her arms around herself, burning holes into the floor with her stare as they continued to stand there in the darkness. She bounced her knee up and down, something Sonic noticed that she did whenever she was nervous about something and the heel of her boot clicked repeatedly against the concrete ground in the process.

Sonic's face turned serious as he tried to get to the bottom of her strange behaviour. "Ok, seriously, what's going on Ames?"

Amy suddenly burst out laughing, but it sounded fake and only caused Sonic to become more alarmed.

"Oh don't be silly Sonic, I was only joking. Tails said he had some paperwork that he urgently needed and because he was so busy with the sound system, I decided that I would get it for him." Amy explained a little too enthusiastically.

"Riiiight," Sonic folded his arms across his chest, "Why would Tails need paperwork in the middle of a party?"

Amy smiled widely and shrugged. "Workaholic I guess? Or maybe he needed to urgently go somewhere after the party? I don't know. I didn't ask."

Sonic sighed as Amy continued to smile at him, deciding that it was best that he didn't continue to question her at that moment. They needed to get back before people became too worried.

"I thought you'd been captured by Eggman." Sonic admitted as a lump formed in his throat at the thought.

"Why would you think something like that? I can handle myself you know." Amy's eyes lit up dangerously and Sonic backed away, holding his hands up in defence.

"I never said you couldn't, I was just worried that's all." He replied. "Can't I worry about you without getting my head bitten off?"

"I'm not biting your head off, I'm merely saying – "

Sonic cut her off abruptly. "Ok before we take a trip down argument lane again, how about we get back to the party before people start to worry."

"Oh relax, the party doesn't start for hours."

Sonic stared at her as if she'd grown two heads.

"What?"

"Amy…the party started ages ago."

Amy gasped, grasping her pink quills with her gloved hands in horror. "Oh my god! I completely lost track of time! Oh what's Cream going to think of me?!"

"Less worrying, more running back to the party as fast as we can."

Scooping her up bridal style, Sonic managed to get them back in no time and set Amy on the ground gently whilst she tried to straighten out her quills.

"Give me a warning next time you're going to do that." She huffed before gasping as Cream ran over to greet them.

"Amy, you're ok!"

Amy looked like she was fighting back tears as she pulled the young rabbit into a tight embrace.

"Cream, I am so sorry." Her voice cracked as she apologised. "I lost track of time, I'm sorry sorry sorry sorry, a thousand times sorry."

"It's ok." Cream beamed as they pulled apart before she looked up at her best friend with concern. "Sonic said you were a bit stressed lately. Is everything ok?"

Amy froze and went slightly pale, her jade green eyes widening momentarily before she plastered a very fake looking smile on her face. "I'm fine Cream. Never better."

"Are you sure Amy?" Sonic intervened, watching Amy closer through the whole conversation. "You're looking a little ill. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Amy bit her lip, her eyes scanned the room wildly and her ear twitched slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself again and began bouncing her knee.

"Now that you mention it. I am feeling a little ill. Would you excuse me?"

Sonic watched in a state of utter confusion as Amy ran inside the house. Everyone else who had suddenly noticed Amy's erratic behaviour also stared after her with concern sprouting on their features.

"Should I go after her?" Sonic wondered out loud to himself and was about to step towards the house before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around to see the jewel thief, Rouge the Bat, grinning saucily at him.

"Leave it to me big blue, this kind of behaviour needs a woman's touch."

Rouge released his shoulder, her features going completely blank as she followed Amy into the house before shutting the back door behind her.

"What do you think's wrong with her?" Cream asked.

Sonic sighed in concern as he continued to stare at the closed door, locking him out of the house and out of the truth as to what was going on.

"I have no idea Cream, but I wish I did."

The blue blur began to grow incredibly concerned over Amy's eccentric – well, more eccentric than usual – behaviour. What if…she really hadn't forgiven him? What if she'd just accepted his apology just to be nice? Sonic chewed on the ends of his fingers at the very thought. Or what if she was ill? Maybe Eggman had injected her with a horrible disease that was making Amy act all weird before it killed her slowly and painfully.

Of course now Sonic knew he was just being paranoid. He couldn't help it when it came to Amy though; she was so sweet, innocent, vulnerable and cute…ok he needed to stop.

"What's wrong Sonic?"

Tails' voice made Sonic jump and he quickly spun around to smile at his best friend.

"Oh nothing much, just worrying about Amy slightly."

Tails chuckled. "All you seem to be thinking and talking about lately is Amy." His blue eyes lit up with suspicion.

"What are you talking about? I'm just worried about her; she's been acting weird."

"Uh huh."

"What? Stop looking at me like that! You're creeping me out. Has everyone lost their minds recently? Sheesh!"

Tails watched with amused eyes as Sonic stormed off to the other side of the garden. "Or maybe you've just lost your heart Sonic."

The sudden loud, piercing scream of Vanilla caught everybody's attention. Sonic twisted around just in time to see Eggman burst out of the forest with the same giant robot he had fought in the city the other day.

"This is what you get for not inviting me to your party!" He bellowed.

"Doctor Eggman, anyone is welcome to the party, but if you're going to start being mean and hurt my friends then I won't let you join us." Cream sniffed as everyone got into a fighting stance.

Vanilla pulled Cream back just as the robot shot at her.

"HEY!" Sonic yelled, feeling his temper grow short. "We do not shoot innocent little girls Eggface!"

Sonic immediately jumped into action, homing attacking the robot to no effect. The robot knocked him out of the way. Sonic hit the ground with a loud thud before the robot started shooting at his other friends, completely ignoring the blue hedgehog.

Amy and Rouge burst out of the house and joined in the fight while Eggman just smiled at the scene, keeping a close eye on Sonic the entire time.

"You know, the way you have been watching me is starting to give me the creeps!" Sonic complained, but Eggman merely laughed.

Sonic was about to shout another sarcastic comment before he noticed Tails was stood directly in the robot's firing line.

"Tails watch out!" Sonic cried out in panic. He leaped up and shoved Tails out of the way just time, also just barely managing to avoid the laser himself.

"Thanks Sonic!" Tails smiled.

"Just be more careful next time." Sonic's voice dripped with deep concern.

Sonic twitched as Amy was also shot at, although this time, the robot's aim was terrible causing Sonic to release a sigh of relief.

"Stop attacking my friends!" He growled out. Sonic's anger boiled up like never before and he curled himself up into a spin attack.

Knuckles punched the robot's leg, knocking it off balance and Sonic went in for the kill. He dashed towards the robot, easily cutting right through it as if it was made out of butter. Landing gracefully behind it, the robot stood motionless as wires stuck out of the huge hole in the middle with sparks of electricity buzzing out in random directions. The robot then collapsed on itself before bursting into flames and everyone cried out in victory.

"But how did you cut through that! That was the most powerful alloy I have ever invented!" Eggman shrieked before twiddling his moustache in thought.

"You know you'll never beat me Eggman." Sonic let out an annoyed sigh before grinning cockily. "You never learn."

"Oh I'm learning, you pathetic pin cushion, and the day I finally conquer you is drawing near." Eggman laughed evilly as he began to fly away in his mech.

"We better go after him." Sonic announced as he began making his way to the Tornado that Tails had parked a few yards outside the house. "We need to find out what he's up to and stop him. His attacks are getting too frequent for my liking."

Tails, Knuckles and Amy joined him as they approached the airplane. They all hopped into their usual spots and Tails started the engine. However, instead of coming to life as normal, the engine made a pathetic clanking noise before dying completely.

Tails stared down in utter shock.

"What's going on?" Sonic demanded urgently as Eggman continued to get away.

"It can't be." Tails mumbled to himself, sounding like he was in a deep state of panic.

The little fox opened a compartment behind the steering wheel and gasped in terror when he saw that it was empty.

"The chaos emerald is gone!"

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	6. You've Been Hacked

**Hey guys, some IMPORTANT NEWS here! There's a poll on my profile as to whether or not I should start taking requests for Sonamy one-shots. I just think it could be fun, but I wanna know what you guys think. Should I do it or not? However if you want me to, there will be conditions: they have to be T appropriate and I have to feel like I can write them. They also have to be from the game, Sonic X or Sonic Boom universe as I'm not that familiar with the other universes. They can even be based on my other fanfictions if you like and credit will be given to the person who requested it. Don't give me an answer in a review because I'll lose track of the results; I need to see the numbers in the poll so give your answer there (unless you're an anonymous reviewer and are very passionate about your answer). If you have any further questions, please feel free to PM me anytime. I won't bite. If the answer yes comes out on top, then more information will be given. Feel free to suggest what the title of the collection of one-shots can be because I don't want something like 'sonamy one-shots'; plenty of people have done that one already. The poll closes next Saturday. Thanks! **

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. I own nothing.**

* * *

**6: You've Been Hacked**

"Stolen?" Sonic shrieked. "What do you mean stolen?"

"I mean someone took it!" Tails shrieked back, sounding incredibly stressed.

Sonic frowned. "I know what the word means buddy, but who could have done this? You flew here in the plane didn't you?"

"Yes, so it must've been stolen while we were at the party."

"Eggman." Knuckles immediately concluded and Tails shook his head slowly.

"I don't think so. Eggman was at the battle the whole time."

Sonic's frown deepened. "Could his attack have been a diversion while the real thief took the emerald?"

"Possibly. What do you think Amy?" Tails turned to the pink hedgehog who had remained quiet the whole time.

"Hmmm…if Sonic is right then Eggman might have teamed up with a new enemy."

"But who could that be?" Knuckles demanded, getting frustrated with the situation as Eggman continued to get away as they continued to argue over the missing emerald.

"I don't know Knuckles, it's just a theory!"

"Ok can we all calm down please?" Sonic's voice was soft as he waved his hands up and down, trying to keep the peace.

"Yeah well if Tails didn't solely rely on the chaos emeralds as a fuel source." Knuckles mumbled angrily and Tails' head snapped up.

"Hey, you want to have powerful machines don't you?"

"Who needs powerful machines when I can work effectively without them? Besides, the amount of power it gives off makes it incredibly easy to track and you left it _alone_. No wonder it was stolen so easily."

Knuckles and Tails got right up in each other's faces, glaring daggers as each other, baring their teeth. The hostility between them electrified the air around them. Sonic quickly jumped in between them and pushed them apart.

"I said can we all calm down." Sonic's voice was more of an order this time. Sonic, despite being the leader, never really liked to show authority or use it on anyone. But Sonic could sense that something was seriously wrong somewhere and he couldn't put his finger on it. Something was going on, something was happening and it was really started to eat away at Sonic as everything around him seemed to be acting weird. Knuckles and Tails fighting now was not helping.

"Look, it doesn't matter why the emerald was stolen for now. What is important is that we have to get it back. Now, Tails and I will head back to his workshop and try and track down Eggman's new base. Amy, help everyone out at the party and try and see if anyone knows anything and Knuckles –"

"I'll go back to the master emerald. This thief could be after that next." Knuckles huffed. "You're not telling _me_ what to do blue boy."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, whatever. Let's go."

Amy watched blankly as the other three left and sighed to herself as a dark layer of cloud covered the hot sun. The temperature suddenly dropped and the distant rumble of thunder could be heard as the spring storm rolled in. Amy reached into her pocket, clinging tightly to the green chaos emerald.

.

"Uhhh, with the chaos emerald gone, my equipment might only work at half the capacity." Tails moaned as he flew over Sonic, his tails spinning around rapidly, like a helicopter propeller.

Sonic ran slightly overhead as they made their way back to Tails' workshop. Once they arrived, Tails froze as he saw the mess that Amy and Sonic had made earlier when he'd tackled her over the desk. Sonic smiled at his friend nervously.

"I thought Amy was an intruder and we got into a bit of a fight."

Tails glared at the mess as he stepped over random tools and pieces of metal and wood. "I'll say. And you didn't think to clear up after yourselves?"

"We were more worried about getting to the party."

Tails sighed. "Whatever, let's just find Eggman's base."

He fired up his super computer and immediately began slamming his fingers against the keys, punching in numbers and symbols that Sonic felt like his brain might explode if Tails even attempted to explain what he was doing. It was so useful having a best friend with an IQ of 300 and rivalled his arch nemesis in intelligence. However Sonic smiled as he thought about how Tails would always have the advantage. Tails had common sense to match his intelligence; Eggman didn't.

"I don't believe this."

Sonic's hopes sunk and drowned in deep water as the defeat in Tails' voice registered.

"I can't track the emerald anywhere, something is jamming the system!"

"How is that even possible? I thought you virtually made your system un-hackable?" Sonic shrieked as he slammed his fists down on the desk next to Tails.

They both started at the screen in horror as static began to appear and the images became distorted. Sonic squinted and for a moment he could've sworn a very familiar 'G' symbol flashed on the screen for a split second before it cut to static again.

"Who could be doing this? Eggman has never been able to hack my system before!"

Sonic continued to glare at the screen as he clenched his fists on the desk as he stood stock still.

"I don't think Eggman is doing this. I think it might be our new enemy."

Tails whimpered slightly in fear at the intelligence that this person seemed to possess. The screen abruptly turned black before large green text appeared on the screen.

_You're not the only one who's good with computers fox cub. _

Tails nearly fell off his chair as he launched himself backwards in fear. Sonic could just imagine the smirk on this person's face, their words were heavily coated in their smugness and this only served to make Sonic angrier. His green eyes moved up to the webcam on the top of the computer screen.

"Whoever they are, they're watching us." Sonic glared at the lens. "Do you think you're being funny?! How did you hack us?"

Everything was dead silent for what felt like eternity. Sonic's eyes remained locked onto the webcam, knowing that he was staring at someone sat on the other side. Tails' eyes darted around in fear before he shuffled slightly closer to Sonic and away from the computer as the previous text deleted itself and new text typed itself onto the screen. Sonic's eyes widened slightly at the words.

_I'd stay out of this if I were you Sonic the Hedgehog._

"So this person clearly knows me." Sonic sneered at the screen as the static returned before the whole screen died with a crackling sound.

Tails began trying to revive the computer but to no effect.

"The whole thing has crashed." Tails sighed and leaned back in defeat. "I've disadvantaged us even further. I'm sorry Sonic. I wasn't careful enough – again."

Sonic placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "It's not your fault."

The blue hedgehog glared up at the webcam, wondering if this person could still be watching them. Were they laughing right now? What did they want?

"How could this person have hacked my computer?" Tails gasped out. "Not even Eggman could do it."

Sonic smirked at the new challenge. "Well no doubt we're going to find out."

Tails turned around and gazed at his messy workshop in confusion again.

"By the way, what were you and Amy doing in here?" Tails then smirked knowingly and Sonic just glared at him in confusion.

"Stop giving me that look!" Sonic snapped defensively. "Amy was just collecting that paperwork for you, I thought she was an intruder, we had a small fight before we both realised who each other was and then ran back to the party."

Tails' smirked faded back into a confused expression.

"What paperwork?"

"You know, the paperwork you wanted Amy to get."

Tails just continued to stare at Sonic who was beginning to feel slightly unnerved.

"Sonic…I never asked Amy to get anything."

"W-what?"

"I can assure you that whatever reason Amy was in here, it wasn't to get any paperwork for me. Are you sure that's what she said?" Tails asked.

Sonic answered without a moment's hesitation. "Yes, I'm positive because one dropped out of her pocket and she picked it up and that's when she told me."

"Do you know what she took?"

Sonic shook his head.

"I don't know what she'd want with my stuff." Tails mused as he rested his elbow on the desk and his head in his hand. "It's all just old projects and research that's in here. I can't think what Amy could possibly want with that junk."

"Hm, well Amy has been acting really weird lately." Sonic folded his arms as he frowned at the concrete wall behind Tails. Why would Amy steal a load of Tails' old research? And why didn't she just ask him? This wasn't like Amy at all. She was always so polite and would ask before simply just take something. Even though they were all pretty close friends and had a 'what's mine is yours' policy when it came to one another needing something, Amy wouldn't just take things and lie about it. She must have some sort of purpose. Was this another dating tactic? Sonic blushed at the thought before shaking it away. How could Tails' research help get him to date her? The thought made Sonic want to laugh out loud.

"We could always ask her?" Tails suggested and Sonic nodded.

"Yeah, I really need to get to the bottom of what's gotten into her lately. She's been so forgetful and skittish lately that it's starting to worry me."

Tails nodded in agreement.

"In the meantime, I'll try and fix this computer."

Sonic nodded back and dashed off back to the party where Amy was. The thunder continue to boom overhead and he prayed that it wouldn't start raining and make his life more difficult at this moment. He'd have to get her on her own and ask her as carefully as he could. He didn't want her to think that he didn't trust her, but Amy's behaviour was getting too weird to ignore. Why was Amy stealing random paperwork? Was she starting to go through some sort of rebellious phase? Had she become a kleptomaniac like Rouge? Sonic didn't see that being likely. Amy was too nice and sweet to become rebellious and knew she would have a good reason to result to stealing. He needed to know what she was had stolen and for what purpose before he jumped to any conclusions. With Amy you should never jump to conclusions or it may come back to hit you in the face. Probably literally in the case of Amy's huge, powerful hammer. That's one weapon you need to stay away from.

Sonic shuddered at the thought as he arrived back at Cream's house where everyone was helping to clean up.

"Mr Sonic!" Vanilla called in glee. "Did you catch up with Doctor Eggman? Is everything ok? Can I get you anything?" She fussed over him like an overprotective mother and Sonic declined as politely as possible, trying to spot any signs of his energetic pink friend.

"No thank you. Have you seen Amy?"

"She should be here somewhere." Vanilla smiled as she folded up a table cloth and Sonic dashed off to find his weird friend. He searched all over the backyard, but couldn't find any sign of her at all. Oh no. He hoped that she hadn't disappeared again. He ran inside the house through the back door that lead into the kitchen. Cream and Blaze were washing the dishes; Cream cleaning them and Blaze drying them with her pyrokinesis and putting them away.

"Girls, have you seen Amy…again?" Sonic asked, beginning to get really worried again.

Cream simply shook her head, but Blaze noticed the seriousness of Sonic's facial expression and placed the dish she was drying down, her hand losing its orange glow as she turned her powers off.

"Cream, could you excuse us for a moment." Blaze said, politely and as sophisticated as usual before gracefully walked towards Sonic.

"Sure thing Miss Blaze." Cream beamed, continue to scrub a dish.

Blaze led Sonic out of the kitchen and into the small dining room where Sonic shut the door behind them.

"Sonic, please tell me what's going on?" Blaze demanded, standing tall and poised while Sonic groaned in frustration and slumped down in a wooden chair.

"That's just it Blaze. I don't know." Sonic replied. "Amy's acting weird and I can't figure out what's going on. It seems she's stolen some of Tails' old paperwork and we can't figure out why."

Blaze thought for a moment. "What's on this paperwork?"

"I don't know." Sonic shrugged. "According to Tails, nothing of importance; just some old research."

"Could she be doing it just to get attention?"

"Why would she do that? She lied about it and tried to cover her actions so I highly doubt it."

Blaze sighed. "Well, I haven't known Amy as long as you guys have, but I know that the girl will always be a mystery to me."

Sonic abruptly stood up again as he decided he was wasting time just sitting around. He needed to find her. "Thanks for your help, but I really need to go and find her."

He turned to leave before he stopped himself and Blaze watched him patiently.

"I know this is a lot to ask," He began, "But could you do me a favour and stick around for a while. Something weird is going on and Tails just got hacked by our new enemy so it looks like we're going to need all the help we can get."

Blaze closed her eyes and nodded. "Of course."

Sonic gave her a small grateful smile before running out of the house to continue his search for Amy.

.

Knuckles stood tall and proud in front of the master emerald as he watched the sun set over the horizon of the floating island. So far, no one seemed to be attempting to steal the master emerald, but Knuckles wasn't prepared to leave anything to chance. Eggman's attacks were becoming more frequent and according to Amy, they were dealing with a new enemy. Knuckles didn't like the sound of that.

Arms folded across his chest and a hard expression on his face, the guardian didn't notice someone floating down behind him.

"My my, don't you look cute when you're trying to act like the tough guardian." A voice purred behind him and Knuckles gasped and turned around to see Rouge sitting on top of the master emerald, one leg crossed over the other and leaning back in complete relaxation.

"Hey, get away from that emerald you good for nothing jewel thief!"

"Is that the best you could come up with?" Rouge sighed as she leaned her face towards the sun's rays as it sat low in the sky. "Beautiful evening isn't it?"

"What do you want?" Knuckles demanded, clenching his fists ready for a fight. Rouge really knew how to push his buttons.

"Just stopped by for a friendly chat. Shadow has had me so busy lately that I just want some time to relax."

"You're still in contact with that creep?"

Rouge winked at him. "Do I detect a bit of jealousy?" She teased.

Knuckles' muzzle immediately turned as red as his fur before he huffed. "Yeah right, you're both criminal scum and as far as I'm concerned, you deserve each other."

Rouge shot him an offended look. "Fine. I see how it is. I come here to give you a warning and all you can do is be mean to me. What's a poor lady to do?"

Knuckles snorted. "You're no la – wait, what warning?"

Rouge smiled at him coyly before admiring her reflection in the emerald and flapped her wings slightly.

"I'm not even sure you deserve to know now."

"Enough games you stupid bat! What's going on?" Knuckles snapped impatiently.

"I love it when you beg - although without the childish name-calling." Rouge smirked. "But I've been told not to reveal anything, but I feel like you have the right to know at least something."

"Stop beating around the bush!"

Rouge glared at the sunset. "I suggest you and your friends be on your guard. It seems like Eggman has a new friend and favourite and he's planning something big with that person."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "Who's his new friend?"

Rouge shrugged as she stood up, preparing to fly away, stretching her wings out. "How should I know? Just be careful…Sonic especially."

Without another word, Rouge flew off into the sunset leaving Knuckles to think about Rouge's little warning.

* * *

**Anyone have any idea what's going on? Feel free to leave your thoughts. Also don't forget to vote!**

**There may be a few extra mistake in this chapter as my laptop kept acting annoying while I was editing so sorry if you find any more frustrating errors than usual.**


	7. Enemy Amongst Us

**Thank you to those who have already voted. Keep them coming. Thank you so everyone who reviewed and I own nothing.**

* * *

**7: Enemy Amongst Us **

"Boss, Amy has arrived." Orbot announced to Eggman as he sorted out some paperwork on his desk.

Eggman looked up, his glasses shining in the low lighting and smiled. "Excellent. Send her in."

Orbot nodded and opened the thick metal door to let Amy through. The pink hedgehog walked in with a neutral expression as she began pulling things out of the pockets of her red dress and brought them towards Eggman, placing them down on the desk. The evil scientist smiled down at the chaos emerald and the papers Amy had collected and inspected them closer.

"You have done well my dear. With these items, I'll be able to get that blue pest once and for all and you'll finally have your revenge."

"Yes yes, I've heard all this before." Amy muttered, sounding bored. "How exactly do all of these items help get Sonic though?"

Eggman unfolded the paper containing the analysis of Super Sonic, ignoring Amy's question and hummed to himself in thought as he skim read it. Amy watched him impatiently, her eyes narrowing.

"Hellooooo?" Amy growled out. "We're supposed to be partners in this and you're keeping me totally in the dark!"

Eggman chuckled. "That's the thing with project darkness…it's very…_dark._" He laughed louder this time and Amy looked at him like he'd gone mad.

"But what is this project? You said that we're working together and you're not telling me anything!"

His laughing ceased abruptly and he glared down at the fuming pink hedgehog. He stood up from his chair and leaned over the desk to glare down at her. Amy stayed still, unflinching as she met his glare.

"Who said anything about equal partners?" He sneered. "You said you'd work for me and work for me you shall. You will ask no questions and I will only reveal information if necessary in order for this plan to work. Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

Amy maintained her furious expression. "Well clearly you're keeping a lot of things from me. What does project darkness have to do with Sonic and taking over the world?"

"Tsk tsk…you will not question my orders or visions. We had a deal." Eggman leaned back again, but his annoyed stare never left her as he linked his fingers together over his stomach, twiddling his thumbs.

Amy didn't reply, not wanting to push her luck anymore.

"So full of anger and revenge." Eggman noted as he picked up the chaos emerald and inspected it. "You are definitely making a valuable asset and soon my dear, you will be able to have your way with Sonic."

Amy smirked.

"Do they suspect you?"

"I'm not sure." Amy replied. "They seem to know something weird is going on, Sonic especially, but they haven't been able to connect it all together yet. I've led them to believe that you have partnered up with a new powerful enemy."

"But what of the chaos emerald? I'm surprised that they haven't managed to track it down yet and when I tried to access Tails' software, it seemed that it had already crashed."

"Oh yeah?"

"Come now Amy I know that couldn't have been you that did that."

Amy began sweating nervously. "And what makes you think I couldn't have done something like that? Maybe I happened to know Tails' password."

Eggman stared at her without moving for a few seconds before he seemed to accept her answer. He placed the glowing green emerald back down on the desk and placed the papers she had given him into the same mysterious file that she had now seen many times; its secrets still unknown to her. It was having an almost Pandora's box effect on Amy as she stared at the deep purple file in Eggman's large gloved hands. His plans for Sonic's ultimate defeat were hidden in those collection of papers.

"You can stare at it all you want my dear. All will be revealed when the time is right." Eggman spoke without looking at her as he carefully tucked the file away in the drawer of his desk.

"But I want to know how you plan to defeat him." Amy whined.

"Your eagerness is to be admired, but I'm not planning to kill him if that's what you're thinking." Eggman smirked and Amy stared at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

Eggman's smirk widened as he continued to stare at her. "And I think I may have finally found the key to project darkness finally becoming a reality."

.

It had been hours since Amy had vanished and Sonic was beginning to grow even more concerned. His pink friend was nowhere to be seen and the storm was getting even closer; the thunder boomed louder and a few flashes of lightening could be seen on the horizon. The wind was picking up, blowing leaves and twigs in Sonic's face as he ran. He did not want to be caught out in this, but he didn't want to abandon his search for Amy either. If she had disappeared without an explanation, then something had to be wrong.

Sonic ran past Amy's house for the fifth time and mentally slapped himself as he realised that he'd forgot to check inside. He skidded to a halt and ran back, hopping over her garden fence and went straight to the window, cupping his hand around his eyes as he peeked through.

Nothing.

The house was dark and empty and Sonic sighed as he pulled away from the window. He felt like all his did lately was worry about Amy.

His little blue ear twitched as he heard what sounded like footsteps echoing down the cobbled pathway and Sonic quickly jumped into the nearby tree and peeked through the leaves to see who was coming.

He sighed with relief once he realised it was Amy and was about to jump down and greet her when he realised that she was on the phone. Straining his ears, Sonic leaned out of the tree slightly so he could listen better, but could still only pick up bits and pieces of the conversation she was having.

"Understood…yes I'll be there...see you then." Amy said as she listened to what the person on the other end had to say before hanging up and began walking towards her front door.

The branch Sonic was holding onto creaked and he instantly knew he was in trouble. Before he could react, the branch snapped and Sonic tumbled out of the tree and landed clumsily, face first on the ground in front of a very surprised Amy.

"Gah!" Amy shrieked as she jumped back in fright before relaxing once she realised it was just Sonic.

"Sonic, what the hell were you doing in my tree?!"

Sonic pushed himself off the ground and looked at her seriously. "Looking for you if you must know."

"In my tree?"

"Yes, NO!" Sonic stuttered as he struggled to say something that made sense, blushing slightly as Amy looked at him weirdly.

"Well, ok then," Amy brushed it off, "That storm is getting closer, wanna stay at mine for a bit?"

Sonic smiled. This was the perfect opportunity to find out what was going on with her.

"Sure, that would be great!" He beamed at her and Amy unlocked her door before leading him inside.

He followed her into the living room where she lit the fire and collapsed on the couch.

"Wow, what a day." Amy sighed. "Eggman sure likes to keep us on our toes huh?"

Great, Amy had opened the topic up for him. Sonic smiled at the thought as he sat down next to her and leaned back, trying to look as relaxed and casual as possible.

"Yeah," Sonic agreed, "Oh by the way did you manage to get any information off the others?" He asked suspiciously.

"No, no one knew anything. Still no sign of the chaos emerald?"

Sonic shook his head. "I don't understand how this person took the emerald from right under our noses. Then Tails' computer got hacked today. I don't know who could've done that. You'd have to be some sort of super lifeform in order to get past Tails and his brains when it comes to technology."

Amy laughed a little nervously. "Yeah."

"Whoever it was, really didn't want us to find the emerald or the thief. Looks like your theory was right about someone working with Eggman. But why? And what do they want?"

Amy shrugged. "Probably the same as every other bad guy we've faced: world domination."

"Well they're going to have to get through me first." Sonic smirked before he realised he's gone slightly off topic. "Speaking of Tails…did you manage to deliver his paperwork ok?" He asked, throwing her a coy smile.

Amy didn't look at him as she suddenly found her fingers in her lap more interesting all of a sudden. "Yeah."

"Hmm…he wasn't too happy with the mess we'd made."

Amy shot him a glare. "You mean the mess you'd made. You're the one who attacked me."

Sonic rolled his eyes before looking back at her and realised that she still looked slightly pale like she was earlier. "Hey, are you ok? You're not still sick are you? You look kinda pale still."

Amy rubbed her face self-consciously. "Yeah, I guess I'm just stressed, what with Eggman and everything."

"You don't have to fight with us you know." Sonic offered softly, sad that it was affecting her health. Even though he knew Amy would never back down from battle, he almost secretly hoped that she would – then she would be out of harm's way. He could not believe he had just thought of that…

"No I want to." Amy said determinedly. "If Eggman's up to something then I want to help stop him. He ruined Cream's party!"

Sonic continued to gaze at her thoughtfully. He knew Amy well enough to know that she was hiding something. He needed to find out. What he needed to do now was keep a better eye on her. Clearly trying to make her slip up in conversation wasn't working. He knew if he flat out asked her then that would get him nowhere either, so Tails' idea was out the window. Amy was stubborn and would just deny everything. He needed to catch her in the act.

The rain suddenly began hammering down on the house and the sudden sound of thunder clapping directly over the house made them both jump slightly. But it didn't prevent Sonic from forming an idea.

"Hey, why don't we hang out tomorrow? We had fun last time right?" He asked and Amy's eyes lit up before they dimmed as she thought about his request.

"What is it?"

"Oh Sonic I'd love nothing more, but I have to be somewhere tomorrow."

"What? All day?"

Amy nodded. "Pretty much. Maybe the next day?"

"Sure." Sonic mumbled sourly, unable to shake the sudden feeling of disappointment. Why had that rejection stung him so bad?

What was she hiding?

"Where do you need to be anyway?" Sonic demanded a little too harshly and Amy's eyes widened at his tone slightly. He was starting to sound like a child who couldn't get his own way.

"Oh…just meeting up with an old friend."

"What old friend?"

Why was she being so secretive about this? _What if it was a date? _Sonic's heart rate picked up in panic at the thought. Maybe that was why she was acting so weird with him. She'd turned her attention onto someone else and now she didn't like him anymore. No, Amy wouldn't do that. She'd been in love with him since they were kids and that wouldn't change now…would it? No! Who was this person? Were they a creep? Did they pressure Amy into dating them? It felt like some sort of monster inside Sonic was forcing its way out at the thought of Amy in someone else's arms. Amy looking up to them as her hero instead of Sonic. He would be forgotten about. She would no longer be his…

Sonic growled lowly to himself at these thoughts. Why was he having them in the first place? Was he really in any position to be territorial? Amy wasn't his. She was his friend and his protective instincts took over…right? He had never really felt that kind of anger before…it was awful. He pushed it down as best he could but the thought of Amy in another man's arms kept making him want to do something irrational.

Who was he to jump to the conclusion that she was going on a date? It wasn't his business. Amy could do whatever she wanted. It was her life. Besides, if she had a date then he was sure that Amy would be shouting it from the rooftops.

But if it was date…who could it be? And why keep it a secret?

Amy sighed, oblivious to his sudden internal conflict. "Sonic, I get the feeling I've done something to offend you. You've been acting weird all day."

_That makes two of us, _Sonic thought bitterly as he folded his arms at how difficult Amy was making this. But Sonic bit his tongue at the urge to retaliate with that remark. "Oh I'm fine and you haven't done anything. I guess I'm also stressed."

Amy seemed to be fooled by this excuse and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder which sent pleasant tingles through his body. Great, that weird feeling was back. Only this time he was trapped with it. He couldn't run away. There was nowhere to run to due to the weather and also, he could jeopardise the opportunity to find out what was wrong with Amy. He would just have to deal with it and try and repress the strange feelings.

"Aww, Sonic if you're feeling stressed you know you can talk to me anytime you want."

Sonic rolled his eyes at her concern and angled his body more towards hers, both unaware that they had unconsciously shuffled closer together on the couch.

"Don't worry about it." Sonic reassured her. "Right now we need to focus on what Egghead is up to and stop him. He keeps taking notes of everything I do and it's starting to irritate me."

"Don't worry about it. He's probably just looking for ways to defeat you, but he never will."

Sonic's ego inflated at Amy words and he smirked at her. "Thanks Amy. You always know exactly what to say. The team would be lost without you."

Amy smiled shyly as they still both hadn't realised that they were still moving closer together; their noses almost touching as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Thanks." She said softly.

Sonic had never felt this way before as he failed to register what Amy had said. His lips tingled as they ached to be pressed against hers and he felt drawn to her like she was a powerful magnet, slowly pulling him in. He had completely forgotten why he was even here in the first place. It didn't matter now. It was like she had cast a spell on him and he was now hypnotised; completely in her power. He didn't care in that moment. He unexpectedly found himself _wanting_ to belong to her. Involuntary, his eyes began to slowly close as he tilted his face to meet hers. The sudden, unexplainable, aching thirst for her was soon promised to be quenched and all he had to do was lean closer…closer…

_BOOM!_

A bright flash of lightning and a deafening roar of thunder forced them to jump apart with a gasp. Their lips, once a millimetre away, were what now felt like miles apart and Sonic shook his head in an attempt to clear his head of the enticing scent that was Amy…he couldn't believe he was even thinking like that.

Sonic's eyes widened slightly as his behaviour suddenly registered. Was he about to kiss her? Was he about to _kiss Amy Rose?! _

No.

That couldn't be it.

He felt flushed at the thought. Maybe he was tried? Maybe he was losing it! He'd take any medical diagnosis right now because he was _not _just about to kiss Amy Rose. That was impossible!

He shyly looked over at Amy from the corner of his eye to see her switching on the TV and pretending that nothing had just happened – thankfully. He didn't know what he'd do if she'd questioned his actions. Was she just as embarrassed? Or was he overthinking the situation and nothing had actually happened?

He didn't know. He'd never been in this kind of situation before. The thought of something like this happening had never once crossed his mind. So why now? What had changed? Had anything changed? He needed to stop asking questions and try and calm down.

Sonic took a few deep breaths as he stared at the TV as Amy tried to flick through the channels, still refusing to look at her properly out of embarrassment. He hid his face behind a cushion slightly as he knew he was bound to be bright red. His face got even hotter at the thought of Amy catching him blushing at what had just happened. He didn't want her getting the wrong idea.

Amy groaned. "Looks like the signal is down due to the storm." She moaned as the 'no signal' sign came up for every single channel she passed. "Do you wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, I don't mind." Sonic mumbled a little too quickly from behind the cushion. He felt like it was the only thing offering him comfort and safety in this moment. He wanted to run. His legs ached so badly. The need to get out of there burned in his entire body, but he couldn't go anywhere. The storm was too bad and he needed to stay in Amy's good books if he was going to find out what she was up to…what if it _is _a date? _Shut up!_

_I don't care!_

"What do you feel like watching?" Amy asked, blissfully unaware of Sonic's inner turmoil as he clung tighter to the cushion like a lifeline.

"I don't know, you choose."

Amy ended picking something at random. They both really didn't seem to be watching it anyway as they both stared in different directions, in their own little worlds. However, they finally both managed to relax again as the evening progressed before towards the end of the film, they both passed out, sound asleep against each other.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions and don't forget to feel free to leave your vote on my profile. **


	8. Espionage

**Thanks for the reviews everybody. Also my poll is a tie right now so, yeah please vote to rectify that. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**8: Espionage **

Sonic's eyes gently fluttered open and he began involuntary sniffing the air as the sweet smell of pancakes filled the air. He sat up and the memories of yesterday flooded back. He was still on Amy's couch, only a blanket had now been draped over him and Amy was missing, obviously now in the kitchen. He yawned and stretched and the memory of their near kiss forced itself front and centre of his brain and he cringed back.

"I see sleeping beauty is finally awake." Amy joyfully exclaimed as she walked into the room, carrying a plate of pancakes. "I thought you'd never wake up."

"Why what time is it?" Sonic asked as he rubbed his eyes, still feeling a little groggy instead of his usual refreshed feeling. Wow, he must be stressed. He noticed Amy still looked a little on edge. She was less pale than she was yesterday, but she still looked slightly off.

"Almost half ten." Amy smiled as she handed him the plate. "Pancakes?"

Sonic's mouth watered and he couldn't say no. "Thanks."

He took the plate off her and immediately began wolfing them down and Amy rolled her eyes as she backed out of the room.

"I just need to head upstairs and grab something and then I need to get going." Amy announced before dashing upstairs.

Sonic's heart sank as he remembered that Amy was 'busy' today. He swallowed a huge mouthful and immediately lost his appetite as his previous paranoia about what Amy was doing washed back over him, making him feel like he was drowning. There had to be a way to find out what she was up to. His gaze wandered around the room and his eyes soon zeroed in on her phone that was sat on a small coffee table in the corner next to the front door.

Should he?

It felt wrong and invasive, but Amy was definitely up to something. He needed to find out. And she seemed to be having continuous intense conversations with someone. He cast his mind back to when he first came round here, how startled she was when he caught her arguing with someone on the phone. She never said who it was. Just something about a surprise for Vanilla or something. She kept mysteriously disappearing without any proper explanation, she had stolen from Tails so could she have…? No. She couldn't have stolen the chaos emerald. Why would she do something like that? Besides, the thief had managed to cover their tracks by crashing Tails computer. There was no way in the world Amy could've managed that. She didn't even know Tails' password and hated doing anything technical with a passion. So it couldn't have been her.

Now he felt incredibly horrible for suspecting Amy of such a thing.

Again, he thought about the conversation he overheard last night. She was indeed meeting up with someone. But who? And why was she being so enigmatic about it?

His mind was made up as he ran over and grabbed her phone. She had a new message from a number he didn't recognise. Narrowing his eyes, he opened the message and read it to himself, the contents confusing him even more.

_Don't forget the recordings._

_\- A.S _

Recordings? And who the hell was A.S? It must stand for something. He looked through her history of texts, thanking Amy's laziness that she hadn't deleted all of them. The previous one was from yesterday around the time she disappeared.

_Meet me in the usual place. Tomorrow. 1pm. _

_\- A.S _

Well this person sure seemed bossy and blunt. Sonic gasped at a sudden horrific thought: what if she was in some sort of controlling, abusive relationship? Was that why she was looking so ill lately? It was all beginning to make sense. He just needed visual proof because Amy sure as hell wasn't going to admit to this. He felt sick at the very thought of Amy cowering in fear as this guy ordered her around, making her do things she didn't want to do. He had to save her.

Footsteps coming down the stairs forced Sonic to quickly exit her messages, slam her phone down on the table and run back over to the couch where he pretended to be just getting up as Amy appeared. She picked up her phone and placed it in her pocket before she turned to smile at Sonic who was fidgeting nervously. Her smile dropped once she picked up on his behaviour.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked full of concern. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Oh no no, I'm good." Sonic cringed at how nervous his voice sounded before he headed towards the front door where Amy was waiting.

As he passed her on his way out he quickly turned back to her.

"You know you are allowed to say 'no', right?" Sonic said, seemingly out of nowhere to Amy.

Amy's eyes widened in surprise before she giggled slightly. "Sonic, where did that come from?"

Sonic's quills twitched in embarrassment, clenching his fists to restrain the urge to just pick her up and hide her from this creep.

"You know, in case anyone tried to control you."

Amy sneered. "Nobody controls Amy Rose. I don't know where you're getting this from."

Sonic let out a light sigh of relief. Maybe he had misunderstood slightly. Amy was right. She would never let anybody control her and would always stand up for herself as people often greatly underestimate her. He felt bad for doubting her.

But that still didn't solve the mystery of who her date was. Sonic mentally slapped himself for jumping to that conclusion as the same unpleasant feeling from the night before began clawing against his rib cage again. Sonic did his best to keep a smile on his face as they both walked down the street together before they got ready to part ways.

"Well, last night was fun." She smiled, lightly brushing her fingers against her lips before she looked down shyly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya." Sonic said a little more harshly than he intended as he struggled to oppress those weird feelings. He slapped a hand over his mouth, but luckily Amy hadn't seemed to notice, or at least pretended not to, as she walked down a separate road towards the outskirts of Station Square.

Sonic watched her form disappear from view before he took off towards Tails' workshop to check in on how he was doing. Whilst he was running, he tried to figure out a way to find out what Amy was up to. He came up blank and soon he was opening the door to Tails' workshop to find that he cleaned the place up and was now furiously working on his computer to try and restore everything.

"Any luck buddy?" Sonic asked as he stopped to stand next to the little fox.

Tails sighed. "Some. I've managed to get it back on, but now it's just the case of trying to restore everything. Whoever it was that hacked me sure knew what they were doing. By the way did you ask Amy about those papers?"

"Ummm."

"You didn't." Tails groaned.

"Well I tried to get some information out of her, but she wouldn't budge!"

"I'm willing to bet that you didn't ask her directly."

Sonic huffed. "I decided in the end to take a more sneaky approach. I asked if she managed to get those papers to you and she lied and said that she did. She lied to me Tails. Lied to me! I don't know what's going on with her right now. Amy's never been like this before. I'm getting seriously worried."

Tails looked up at him sympathetically. "I'm sure she's fine, she has to have her reasons."

"Then why hasn't she talked to us about it?" Sonic shrieked. "We're her friends."

"Sonic, it's just a few pieces of paper. They wouldn't have been important. I'll figure out which papers she stole later, but right now I'm just trying to get this computer fixed."

Sonic sighed as he collapsed on a bench at the back of the workshop, daydreaming as Tails worked.

"By the way where you last night? What took you so long?" Tails asked after a few minutes of silence before taking a sip of his drink.

"Umm, oh, I just spent the night at Amy's." Sonic tried to answer as nonchalantly as possible.

Tails choked and spat out his drink, droplets of soda sprayed all over his keyboard and computer screen before he turned around to gaze at his best friend in shock. Tails felt like he had misheard him.

"You spent the night at Amy's?" He choked out in disbelief. "What happened?"

Sonic blushed, looking away and he knew that just made himself look worse. "Nothing happened! I just kinda fell asleep there without realising."

"Uhhh, I need those fifty rings." Tails groaned as he face palmed.

Sonic's head snapped back around to glare at Tails. "What fifty rings?"

Tails blue eyes widened as he clamped a hand over his mouth. "Oh nothing, it doesn't matter."

"Tails!"

"It's just ummm…some stupid bet that Knuckles and I have…nothing important."

"A bet on what?!" Sonic had a feeling he knew where this was going.

Tails smiled apologetically. "Oh just when you're going to admit your feelings for Amy." He finally admitted and cringed back as Sonic stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open.

Tails was worried that he had shocked Sonic into a catatonic state before Sonic seemed to suddenly re-start and he glared at his best friend.

"Oh real mature guys." He sulked. "And I do not have feelings for Amy."

Tails rolled his eyes, deciding not to get into that argument and went back to work.

"Besides I think Amy has lost interest in me."

Tails couldn't help but pick out the sadness in Sonic's tone and turned back around to face him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well this guy seems to keep texting her and ringing her. I don't know who it is, but they are clearly keeping Amy occupied right now. I'm willing to bet that that's why she keeps disappearing; she's in a secret relationship."

Tails chuckled at Sonic's theory. "Sonic, I highly doubt Amy is in a secret relationship. She always wears her heart on her sleeve so if she was in love with someone else then we'd most likely know about it and to be honest I can't see her moving on from you so I think you're still safe." He smirked.

Sonic shot him a warning glare before he decided not to retaliate. "I'm being serious! I read through her texts this morning!" He ignored Tails' disapproving frown. "Someone called A.S keeps contacting her."

"A.S?"

"Do you know them?" Sonic asked hopefully.

"No." Tails replied, looking confused and Sonic's hopes deflated. "But that certainly is strange."

"Therefore, Amy is in a secret relationship." Sonic concluded as his teeth locked together in anger. The unpleasant emotion threatening to boil over to the point where Sonic wanted to go on some sort of angry rampage. Whoever this person was would never be good enough for Amy. They seemed really demanding in their text messages, causing Sonic to have an instant dislike of them. He began shaking at the thought of Amy in some mystery person's embrace again.

"Somebody sounds a bit jealous." Tails mumbled not intending for Sonic to hear.

"I AM NOT JEALOUS!" He yelled, sounding slightly hysterical, causing Tails to flinch back slightly. "I just don't want some creep getting anywhere near her."

"Sure Sonic, keep telling yourself that." Tails sighed. "Seems to me that you do have feelings for her after all."

"I don't!"

"Don't what?" A deep voice asked behind them and Sonic and Tails both turned to see Knuckles walking through the door.

"Oh great that's all I need!" Sonic moaned. "Now you can all gang up on me. Go on then Knuckles. Give me your best shot."

Knuckles shot Tails a confused look as he took a cautious step away from Sonic.

"What's up with him?"

Tails laughed. "He found out about our bet."

Knuckles laughed with him. "Oh really?" He shot Sonic a sly look who folded his arms and began tapping his foot.

"Which none of you are going to win because I'm not in love with Amy." Sonic snapped, although his mind kept drifting back to that near kiss and his heart began to race as fast as his feet.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Yeah keep telling yourself that. But I didn't come here to tease you."

"Then what do you want? Don't you have some massive emerald to guard?" Sonic huffed, feeling on edge again.

"I came to pass on a message from Rouge." Knuckles stated seriously.

"Rouge?" Tails repeated her name in confusion.

"She told me to tell you to watch your back Sonic." Knuckles explained. "That Eggman has this new partner and they're planning something big."

"How does she know that? Rouge isn't exactly the most trustworthy person." Sonic frowned.

"I don't know." Knuckles growled at him. "She just told me to warn you."

Sonic just chuckled. "Well I'm grateful for her concern, but I think I'll be fine."

"I don't know Sonic." Tails said nervously. "It must be serious if even Rouge is worried."

"Yeah well right now my main concern is finding out what's wrong with Amy."

Tails and Knuckles both exchanged a mischievous smile.

"That doesn't mean I'm in love with her!" Sonic snapped before he decided to ignore them as he thought about a way to catch Amy out on whatever it was she was doing. He looked at the clock hung up on the wall. 12pm. That gave him an hour until she had to meet up with her mysterious partner. He needed to find out who her date was. There was only one way he could do it.

"I'm going to follow her to this date of hers." Sonic announced and Tails and Knuckles stared at him in shock.

"You're going to spy on Amy?" Knuckles laughed.

"Sonic, no!" Tails scolded. "It's bad enough you looked through her phone, now this?"

"He what? Looked through her phone?" Knuckles laughed louder. "Boy have you got it bad Sonic."

Sonic just glared at the hysterical red echidna before turning to Tails.

"I have no choice Tails."

"Yes you do! Talk to her like I said before."

"No, she'll just deny everything. Besides how can I trust what she says after all the lies she has obviously been telling us these past few days. I'm telling you, she's hiding something and I'm going to find out what. Does Amy still have her tracker, you know, the ones you installed in us in case of emergencies?"

"Well, yes, but – "

"Perfect!" Sonic smiled as he made his way back over to Tails' computer.

"But Sonic, the tracking system crashed, remember?" Tails sighed in annoyance.

"Dammit." Sonic growled.

"Well, where did you last see her?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic thought back to when they parted that morning. "She was heading towards Station Square."

"Then try there first."

"Don't encourage him!" Tails shrieked at Knuckles. "This is total invasion of Amy's privacy and it's not right."

Sonic sighed. "I appreciate what you're trying to say buddy, but there's something seriously wrong with Amy and I need to find out what it is."

"I'm coming with you, this should be hilarious." Knuckles laughed again and Sonic just rolled his eyes.

"While we look for Amy, Tails you need to get this computer working again. Look at Amy's tracker and see if you can find out where she's been disappearing to. Don't give me that look! I know it's an invasion of privacy and you promised to only do such a thing in an emergency, but my mind is never going to rest until I find out what exactly it is she's been doing. Also, see if you can figure out what paperwork she stole. That might offer some more clues." Sonic ordered before Tails finally sighed and nodded in agreement.

Sonic smiled at the fox before he turned to head towards Station Square.

"Come on then Knuckles. I actually wouldn't mind the help." Sonic said before they both took off towards the city.

They arrived on the outskirts of the city where Sonic had last seen Amy and they both looked around in all directions.

"This is like going to be looking for a tiny pink needle in a giant haystack." Knuckles grumbled. "But your reaction to whatever she's up to should be totally worth it."

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate." Sonic hissed.

"Just follow your heart Sonic." Knuckles put on a high pitched girly voice.

Sonic took a deep breath to stop himself from turning around and strangling the irritating echidna. They walked further into the city, trying to look past the busy shoppers and tourists, hoping to catch sight of a little pink hedgehog, but crowds of humans and anthropomorphic animals going about their daily lives were preventing them from making any progress. They weaved in and out of many different streets and Sonic began to grow frustrated when he saw that the time was approaching 1pm on the giant clock of the city hall.

"Maybe she went somewhere else?" Knuckles said as they made their way back towards the outskirts of the city. "Let's just face it, you're never going to find her."

Sonic's tense frown deepened as he refused to give up. They passed by a busy outdoor café and Sonic froze when something pink caught his eye. Sonic's stop was so abrupt that Knuckles collided into him, knocking them both down onto the concrete sidewalk.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles snapped as he climbed off the top of Sonic to stand up and brush himself off.

Sonic quickly stood up, his eyes drifting back to that same spot, hoping with everything that he had that his eyes had not been deceiving him. Sure enough, there she was. Sitting alone on a table in the corner of the café, reading a notebook was Amy.

The blue hedgehog pointed without saying a word and Knuckles followed his finger to where the pink hedgehog was. They could just about make out that she was frowning in concentration a few feet away.

"No way!" Knuckles smirked. "That was lucky."

"Come on, we need to get closer and find out what she's doing." Sonic said. He knew he couldn't get too close to the café otherwise they would be spotted.

Knuckles followed him as he ran passed a crowd of people and dived into one of the neatly trimmed bushes nearest to Amy's table. Sonic made a small gap between the branches, feeling like all he did lately was use nature as a hiding place, and kept his eyes locked on the back of Amy's form. She was completely oblivious to them as she carried on reading and although he couldn't see her face, Sonic was more focused on seeing the face of the person that she was meeting up with.

"So, I wonder who Amy's date is." Knuckles snickered and Sonic smacked him on the back of the head.

"Be quiet or she could hear us." Sonic hushed him as he pulled the branches back again.

"Don't smack me!" Knuckles growled. "It's not my fault that you're jealous."

"I am not jealous." Sonic hissed through clenched teeth as he waited with agitated anticipation for this mysterious A.S to arrive.

"Whoa!" Knuckles gasped out suddenly, in a state of absolute shock and Sonic nearly ripped the branches apart and just about contained the yelp of fear for Amy's safety as 'A.S' walked through the small gateway that led to the café and sat down opposite Amy.

It couldn't be…

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	9. Mystery Date

**Thank you for the reviews! I own nothing.**

* * *

**9: Mystery Date**

"I'll kill him!" Sonic hissed as he grinded his teeth together in anger. He was about to leap out of the bush before Knuckles grabbed him and pinned him in place.

"What do you think you're doing?" Knuckles asked in irritation. "You'll blow our cover."

"As oppose to say what?!" Sonic shrieked in panic. "Leaving Amy alone with _him._"

Knuckles smirked down at him. "Are you sure you're not just jealous?"

Sonic huffed as he looked over to where Amy was sitting, having a deep conversation with none other than Shadow the Hedgehog; his arch rival. Why him, Amy? Anyone but him. Was she doing it on purpose? Was she dating Shadow just to get to him? Sonic's breathing picked up in fear as he began to question what Shadow was getting out of this? Shadow was a cold hearted, vindictive, conniving little creep and Amy was too good to hang out with the likes of him. He was a criminal. He was a lunatic!

"So A.S must've stood for Agent Shadow." Sonic growled out while Knuckles' amethyst eyes darted between Sonic and Amy in amusement. "She's been meeting up with Shadow in secret."

"Well…that was unexpected." Knuckles chuckled.

"This isn't funny. I'm still going to kill him!"

Knuckles tightened his grip on the blue hedgehog again. "Chill out you jealous hog."

Sonic didn't pay attention as he longed to feel Shadow's neck locked in his tight hands as he strangled the life out of him for bullying Amy around. If he dared lay one finger on her then…then…Sonic began shaking at his irrational thoughts. The only thing that was protecting that creep right now was Knuckles' strength to keep Sonic pinned in place as he glared daggers at Shadow who had begun reading Amy's notebook.

"I can't believe this secret date of hers is Shadow…" Sonic gasped out as he felt a large lump form in his throat. He felt the sudden hatred of Shadow suddenly fade away as he felt like Amy had betrayed him. Wait…why was she betraying him? They weren't together. Sonic mentally slapped himself to try and keep his sanity intact. But the thought of her…in Shadow's arms…it made him feel like he wanted to vomit. Shadow was crazy, unstable and could kill her with one tiny anger outburst. All Amy had to do was say the wrong thing and then BAM. That would be it.

Sonic could feel himself turning pale at the thought.

"You ok there?" Knuckles asked sounding slightly alarmed as he witnessed all the colour drain out of his friend.

Sonic nodded slowly without saying a word as he tried to dispose of the horrific image of Amy lying lifeless on the ground…all colour drained from her, her eyes cold and dead and her body covered in blood from Shadows unstable power.

Knuckles peered through the branches again as he watched Shadow and Amy converse with each other. Neither one was smiling as Amy pointed something out in her notebook before Shadow nodded, keeping his eyes on whatever it was that was written down. Sure, they were sitting quite close, but there didn't seem to be anything love-y dove-y in this situation. It looked too…business like.

"To be honest, it looks too serious to be a date." Knuckles noted and Sonic's ears perked up.

"What do you mean?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Well just look at them. It looks like they're discussing business."

Sonic's head snapped up to peered through the branches again next to Knuckles and he had to agree with what he had said.

"Uh, if only we could hear what they were talking about." Sonic complained as he leaned his head closer to see if he could pick anything up, but the noise from other people in the café completely masked Shadow and Amy's conversation.

"If it's not a date, then why is she hanging around with a creep like Shadow?" Knuckles questioned.

Sonic shrugged, a deep frown forming on his face. "I don't know, but Shadow is too friendly with Eggman for my liking." He suddenly gasped. "What if he's got Amy doing bad things?"

"I highly doubt that Sonic." Knuckles sighed.

"No, but think about it. Amy has been acting strange for days. She keeps disappearing and lying to us and then yesterday she stole some of Tails' things." Sonic tried to explain.

Knuckles' eyes widened. "Really? Huh. That sure doesn't sound like Amy."

"Exactly! Maybe Shadow's brainwashed her or something…" Sonic mused. "Wait a second…"

"What is it?" Knuckles asked, not liking the look on Sonic's face.

"What if they're both doing Eggman's dirty work?"

"Ok, now you're just being stupid."

"No, but think about it. I upset Amy, she disappears and then when I find her again she's acting weirder than ever. She's been acting really different towards me lately. She hasn't been chasing me, pestering me and she even forgot that we were supposed to hang out the other evening."

"Bet that must've hurt your ego." Knuckles smirked, but Sonic ignored him and continued.

"Then she disappears again around the same time the chaos emerald was stolen." Sonic's heart rate began picking up in horror as everything was beginning to add up. "She also steals some of Tails paperwork and lies to me about it and now we find out she's been meeting up with Shadow behind our backs and seems to be doing business with him. Plus, Rouge did warn us that Eggman has a new partner and she's pretty close with Shadow."

"Do you have any idea what you're accusing Amy of right now?" Knuckles' eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"What if Shadow and Eggman have tricked Amy into working for them?" Sonic gasped. "I'm not saying its Amy's fault, they probably forced her into it. That's why she's been looking so ill lately!"

"But Rouge works for GUN and works against Eggman. She hates him." Knuckles pointed out. "I'm sure there has to be some other explanation. What you're saying doesn't make sense."

"Whatever." Sonic turned to glare at Shadow again. "I know Shadow's up to something with Amy and that creep better stay away from her."

"It's funny when you're jealous." Knuckles laughed and Sonic's ears flattened in anger.

"If you're not going to say anything useful, then get the hell out of here." Sonic snapped, refusing to look at Knuckles as his cheeks turned as red as his friend's fur.

"It's not my fault that you've becoming a paranoid jealous freak." Knuckles snapped back. "You've been obsessed with Amy lately, no, scratch that, you've always been obsessed with her."

"What do you mean?"

"Always worrying about her safety and now you've taken it to a whole new level lately. Stalking her, threatening to kill any guy that gets near her. Why don't you just admit that you have feelings for her?"

Sonic tried his best to keep his temper under control as Knuckles brought this up again. "I'm just trying to be a good friend by showing concern. I do not have feelings for her beyond that of friendship!"

While Sonic and Knuckles continued to argue in the bush, Shadow looked over Amy's shoulder in the direction where he could feel eyes had been staring at him the whole time he had been there. He tried to contain his smirk as he could see faker and his moronic echidna friend arguing. It was clear that they had been spying on him and Amy, only now they were so busy arguing that they seemed to forgotten that the whole point of spying was to not get caught. Right now they were doing a pretty piss poor job of that as they were holding the branches apart so widely that Shadow could see everything they were doing.

"Amy, it looks like we're going to have to take this someplace else I'm afraid." Shadow smirked at her and Amy looked up at him in confusion.

"Why?"

"It seems we have attracted an audience." Shadow chuckled humourlessly. "No don't turn around." He added as Amy was about to turn around to see what he had been looking at. "Let's depart quickly."

They both got up as quickly and as nonchalantly as they could before Shadow ushered her out.

"Oh just get off my back would ya?!" Sonic yelled at the angry echidna before turning back around to spy on Amy and Shadow again. "Hey, where did they go?"

"Great." Knuckles muttered.

"This is all your fault." Sonic growled out as his eyes darted around to try and catch sight of the pink and black hedgehogs.

"My fault?!" Knuckles shouted. "You know what forget it, I'm not willing to be caught in the middle of a love triangle."

With that, Knuckles stormed off as Sonic glared at his retreating form before looking around for Amy and Shadow again.

"Dammit Amy, what have you gone and done and got yourself into this time?"

.

"Why'd ya drag me away?" Amy huffed as Shadow finally stopped them in the middle of the forest near Emerald Hill.

Shadow folded his arms. "It looks like faker caught us together."

Amy's eyes widened. "Shadow, I'm sorry, I didn't intend for that to happen." She began to babble, but Shadow held his hand out to stop her.

"It's not of any importance right now. I don't think he overheard anything as when I saw him, he was too busy arguing with the master emerald guardian." Shadow explained and Amy let out a small sigh of relief.

"But we need to be more careful from now on as we can't afford to have your cover blown by either sides." Shadow explained. "We can't afford to make any more mistakes."

Amy glared at him. "Speak for yourself. I quit."

"Excuse me?" Shadow asked in shock at how this had seemed to come out of nowhere.

"I can't do this anymore." Amy explained as she backed away slowly. "I don't care about proving myself anymore. I just want to warn Sonic; I don't want to see him get hurt. The very thought is killing me."

Shadow slowly shook his head as she was speaking. "Amy, you do realise this has become a lot more than just proving yourself now, right?"

Amy stared at him in confusion.

"You stupid naïve brat," Shadow said calmly, but somehow it sounded more threatening. "The world is in deep shit with whatever Eggman is planning and Sonic seems to be the key to Eggman taking over the world. And you want to just let that happen all because the job was a lot harder than you realised?"

"No!" Amy yelled as tears began flowing freely from her eyes. "Sonic has a right to know what's going on because it concerns him! Shadow, please! He's in huge trouble and we need to warn him! I don't know what Eggman's planning, but if we warn Sonic then he can be ready."

Shadow smirked. "You signed a contract. If you do this, you'll be arrested."

"Don't care." Amy cried. "Do whatever you want to me, but I have to warn Sonic. If he gets hurt or even killed, I won't be able to live with myself."

Shadow sighed in annoyance as he ran a hand through his quills. "That's exactly the reason why I chose you for this job." He explained as calmly as he could, trying to resist the urge to smack the stupid girl; she had mostly been pleasant and useful up until now. "You're so willing to do anything for that faker and Eggman accepted your revenge act so you're perfect for this. If you tell Sonic now, then this whole operation will be in trouble. Because you know faker, as soon as finds out Eggman is up to something big, he'll go rushing up there and he'll get captured and used for whatever Eggman wants him for. Do you want to be responsible for that?"

Amy thought for a moment before she sniffed and shook her head.

"Remember, your priority is to find out what Eggman is up to so we can find its weakness and sabotage it and save faker from whatever it is Eggman is planning." Shadow explained. "You need to continue to work undercover and report anything back to me. You've done a good job so far, but we need to find out exactly what project darkness is and put a stop to it."

Amy sighed. "Can't you just burst in there and arrest Eggman right now and get it over with? I'm sick of being a double agent."

"No, we need to find out exactly what we're dealing with. For all we know, it could be a weapon and our intrusion could cause Eggman to use it and we won't know how to stop it. That's why we need you to keep at your work."

Amy stared at Shadow for a while as she seemed to be contemplating something.

"Fine, but you need to promise me something." Amy demanded and Shadow looked at her with curiosity.

"Promise what?"

"That if Eggman finds out and I get killed, you have to promise me that you'll protect Sonic from harm no matter what."

"Amy – "

"Promise me!"

"You have my word." Shadow sighed. Amy had helped him remember his original promise to Maria and he figured he at least owed the little pink girl this, as much as he disliked faker. "But it won't come to that Amy. You have your distress signal and Eggman clearly needs you right now. We are going to stop him."

"I know, it's just…I have a feeling I'm going to mess up at some point." Amy whimpered. "The last thing I would want is for Sonic to suffer because of my mistakes; I just love him so much that I couldn't bear it."

Shadow rolled his eyes at the pathetic tangent this conversation had taken before his head snapped down to look at his communicator as it began beeping.

Amy watched as Shadow had a quiet conversation with the commander before the black hedgehog turned back to face her with her serious expression.

"The commander says we can't afford to wait any longer for Eggman to reveal his plan to you. He's being really careful lately and we need to nip this in the bud before it's too late so to speak." Shadow explained as Amy leaned in closer to listen carefully.

"What do I need to do?"

"You need to enter Eggman's base without being seen and you need to access as much information on project darkness as you can. I'll be on other end of your communicator the entire time. You can't steal it because Eggman will immediately suspect you, so what you need to do is read all the information out to me."

"But how will you – "

"I have a photographic memory."

Amy shot him a disbelieving look.

"Apart from the time I had amnesia." Shadow mumbled bitterly. "I'm a super military weapon remember?"

"Shadow I don't know if I can do this." Amy gulped nervously.

"If you want faker to stay safe then you'll have to." Shadow responded and that seemed to snap Amy out of her nervous state as she nodded with a sudden determination.

Shadow continued his earlier explanation. "You then need to get back out again without being seen."

"But Eggman has security cameras everywhere."

Shadow smirked. "Leave that to me. After hacking Tails' computer, Eggman's is going to be too easy. He'll probably suspect that Tails' did it in retaliation for thinking that Eggman hacked his computer or something. Watching faker when I did that was the most amusement I've had in years."

Amy rolled her eyes at the childish animosity between Shadow and Sonic. She could never understand why they couldn't just get along.

"So I sneak in, read the information to you and then sneak back out again is if nothing happened?" Amy checked to make sure she had everything.

Shadow nodded. "Can you do that?"

Amy smirked as this could finally defeat Eggman and save Sonic. "I can."

Shadow nodded before he began walking away.

"Oh, and Shadow?" Amy called back to him.

Shadow froze and turned around to face her.

"Remember your promise." She reminded him seriously and Shadow nodded once before he skated away, leaving Amy standing alone in the woods.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions.**


	10. The Project

**NEWS: My poll is now closed and the results were in favour of 'yes'. So that means I'll start taking Sonamy one-shot requests. The rules of requests and other information are on my profile so feel free to check them out. I'll start taking requests now, so if you want to PM me with them, that's fine and I'll put your ideas on my list if I feel like I'll be able to write them. However, they won't be published until 1****st**** February 2015. If you have any questions then feel free to PM me anytime. **

**Thanks for all of the reviews! I own nothing.**

* * *

**10: The Project**

Sonic sat rigidly on Tails' roof, curled into a tight ball, his fists clenched tightly by his knees which were tucked under his chin as he glared at the horizon. The image of Shadow and Amy sitting together, working together, was deeply imprinted into his mind and Sonic's stomach churned at thought. Knuckles may not believe him, but he knew Shadow was using Amy for something.

Shadow always looked out for number one. Sure, he had helped save the world a few times, but when it came to that hedgehog's private and business affairs, he was a user. He was selfish and ruthless and did _whatever_ was necessary to get what he wanted. And if that meant hurting Amy, then so be it.

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Sonic curled into himself tighter as he let out a low groan into his knees. He needed to help Amy, but he had no idea where she had gone. Yet again, the pink hedgehog seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. Who knows what Shadow could be doing to her right now. He thought back to how Amy had looked these past few days, how pale and jittery she was. Forgetful and tense. Shadow had done that to her. Now Sonic wanted him to pay.

With his mind made up, Sonic shot up, standing determinedly as he debated about where the both of them were right now and was about to jump off the roof to look for them before Tails' voice stopped him.

"Sonic…I think you'll need to come down for this." Tails called up to him cautiously.

Sonic jumped down to stand in front of Tails as the young fox twiddled his fingers nervously and Sonic nodded, encouraging him to tell him what was bugging him.

"I think you were right to worry about Amy." Tails explained worriedly. "I found out what it was that she stole."

"What was it?" Sonic asked, his voice rising in pitch slightly as his worry became visible.

"She stole my analysis of your super form, information on your biology and information on the chaos emeralds." Tails listed and watched Sonic's expression nervously.

Sonic remained frozen as he processed what Tails was telling him. Why was she trying to steal all of that stuff? She couldn't be…

"All this information may help someone learn how to defeat you." Tails gulped. "I'm so sorry Sonic!" He suddenly yelled, close to tears. "I should've kept a better eye on that stuff!"

"This isn't your fault Tails. It's Shadow's." Sonic growled out and Tails looked up at him in confusion.

"Shadow?"

"It looks like he's forcing Amy to work for him or something and now I know why. He wants to defeat me so he can have her for himself, but it won't work." Sonic smirked.

Tails stared at Sonic as if he had completely lost it.

"What?"

"It all makes sense now. He's got some kind of hold on Amy right now and I need to save her!" Sonic began to sound slightly hysterical as he began twitching slightly with the need to run off and find her.

"Sonic, please just calm down, we don't know that for sure." Tails tried to reason.

"I'm telling you Tails. I saw them earlier! Shadow is ordering her around and getting her to do his dirty work!" Sonic yelled in frustration. "I have to go find her!"

All Tails did was blink and in that time, Sonic had vanished, leaving a puff of dust behind him.

.

Amy Rose walked calmly and carefully up the volcano that led to Eggman's base. The rivers and lakes of magma glowed a bright orange, slowly dribbling down the side of the volcano. The air was full of ash and gas and Amy nearly choked every time she had to make her way up here. But nothing could choke her more now than the fear of what she was about to do.

She held her breath and the main entrance of Eggman's base got closer and closer. She sighed with relief as she took in the sight of the inactive security cameras and mentally thanked Shadow as she typed in the code that Eggman had so kindly told her.

The doors beeped in recognition and opened to let her inside. Despite the raging inferno outside, the inside of the base was quite cool and Amy shivered at the sudden temperature change and looked around for any sign of Eggman or his stupid robotic minions. The coast was clear and Amy began to make her way down the long, metal corridors, making sure to peak around the corners before recklessly turning them. Sonic was counting on her right now and she couldn't afford to let him down by getting caught. If she got caught, then the game was over. Eggman would immediately know what she had been up to and the world would be his for the taking. Amy gulped as she realised that she was the only thing that seemed to be currently standing in the way between Eggman and world domination. It all depended on her.

Her body almost felt crushed by that much mental and emotional pressure, but she knew she had to press on. Shadow was right; this was now a matter of life and death. She couldn't afford to be the stupid, naïve girl she once was.

Feeling empowered and enlightened with that thought, Amy bit her lip as she pressed her back against the wall and slowly poked her head around the corner to check Eggman's office. The door had been left wide open and there was no sign of the mad scientist anywhere. She let out a small sigh of relief as she cautiously stepped into the office and gazed around the large open room. Her boots echoed on the metal ground in the silence of the area and Amy's eyes finally landed on the huge metal desk where she had last seen Eggman put away the file that could help take him down once and for all.

Amy jogged over and pushed Eggman's desk chair out of the way as she yanked the drawer open. Luck was on her side and the dark purple file was there, overflowing with paperwork and Amy reached down to pick it up and placed it back down on top of the desk.

"Ok, I'm in and I've got the file." Amy said into her now activated communicator.

"_Excellent_." Shadow praised from the other end of the communicator. "_Now see what's inside_."

Amy took a deep breath as she opened the file that she had been longing to see. At last all of Eggman's secret plans were going to be revealed. The file didn't seem to have any clear organisation. The papers all spilled out as they were now released from their purple prison.

"There's a lot of paperwork." Amy mumbled as she picked some of it up. "I see some of the stuff that I had to steal for him. The analysis on Super Sonic; he's highlighted some of the sentences and notes. 'In this form, Sonic becomes almost invincible as he channels the positive power of the chaos energy.'" Amy quoted.

"_Hmmm."_

"'Even though Chaos had yielded the power of the chaos emeralds to reach the form of Perfect Chaos, Sonic was still able to utilise the power as he only used their positive force.' It looks like he might be creating some sort of weapon with the chaos emeralds." Amy added her thoughts as she picked up another piece of paper full of notes that she had stolen.

"_Keep going." _Shadow urged.

"Here's Tails analysis on the chaos emeralds: 'The chaos emeralds are very much like a yin and yang as they contain both positive and negative powers. Even though chaos emeralds behave as if they were alive, they do not choose sides. They can help someone by using dark energy or light energy, depending on the mental state of the user.'"

"_I already know most of this." _Shadow started to sound slightly impatient. _"Try and find some of Eggman's notes." _

Amy flicked through the different papers and finally found one with Eggman's own notes on it. "There's lots of photos of Sonic in battle, newspaper cut outs on his victories in battle and notes on his fighting techniques. Whoa!"

"_What is it?" _Shadow demanded.

"According to Eggman's research on Sonic in battle, Sonic appears to be holding back a lot when he fights. He's concluded that Sonic is a lot more powerful than he lets on."

"_Interesting." _

Amy's eyes continued to scan the sheets of paper. "Eggman says that Sonic seems to begin to unleash his full potential whenever one of his friends is placed in danger. Evoking his anger receives even more of an oppositional response than usual. 'His friends appear to be the key', he's underlined."

"_The key? The key to what?" _

"Give me a chance!" Amy snapped as she read the notes as quickly and as efficiently as she could, hoping that she hadn't missed anything critical. The large diagram of a weapon caught her eye and Amy frowned at it in confusion. All seven chaos emeralds had arrows pointing to the weapon and there was a small drawing added in a different coloured pen, which must have been done more recently, of a line coming out the end of the weapon. Maybe a laser? Whatever it was, it appeared to be hitting the small drawing of Sonic in the chest. That couldn't just be any normal doodle.

"Hey Shadow?" Amy said nervously.

"_What?"_

"It looks like you were right about the whole weapon thing. Eggman has drawn something involving the chaos emeralds being shot directly at Sonic." Amy explained as she traced her finger over the drawing of Sonic.

"_I knew it." _Shadow mumbled before speaking up more. _"So he intends to kill Sonic with this chaos emerald weapon?"_

Amy frowned. "I'm not sure. He told me that he didn't intend to kill Sonic."

"_Then what could he possibly want with him alive?"_

"I don't know." Amy replied, starting to feel incredibly anxious.

"_Well find out!" _

As Amy searched through the papers again, she was completely unaware of the audience that she had attracted. Peaking around the corner behind the door was Doctor Eggman as he watched the small pink hedgehog with a light smirk on his lips. Orbot and Cubot stared up at him, their blue lit up eyes squinted in confusion.

"Boss, it seems that the pink one has double-crossed you. Why are you so happy?" Orbot asked.

"Yeah, shouldn't we be capturing her or something?" Cubot added.

Eggman's smirked widened. "All in good time boys, all in good time. I had a feeling she was double-crossing me from the beginning. I simply took her on because without her, I wouldn't have gathered the amazing information that I have. Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war. Amy and Shadow may think they hold the upper hand right now, but they are very much mistaken."

Orbot and Cubot exchanged a glance.

"Wow, nothing gets passed you, does it boss?" Cubot cheered.

"You truly are a genius!" Orbot praised.

"Ssssh!" Eggman hissed. "However, I can't have her finding out too much about project darkness right now otherwise my whole plan will be ruined. I need to get her out of there."

Eggman stared across the corridor where a big red button was placed high up on the wall. He smiled evilly as he walked over and slammed his fist down the button. Immediately the lights turned red and a loud alarm began blaring.

"Sweet! Now are we going to capture her?" Cubot yelled excitedly over the deafening noise of the alarm.

"No!" Eggman snapped. "No one is to lay a finger on that girl. There's something very important I need to do first."

Amy gasped and looked up in shock and horror as the room around her abruptly turned a dark shade of red and the screeching of an alarm caused her to drop the papers back on the desk in fear.

"_What is it?" _Shadow demanded urgently.

"Ummm, can I call you back?" Amy shut down her communicator and quickly shoved the file back into the drawer and slammed it shut.

She took off out of the room, panting as she ran for her life down the empty corridors. She thanked her lucky stars that no robots seemed to be chasing her – yet. Her chest felt tight and her legs burned as she ran faster than she ever had before. How had that alarm even gone off in the first place? Shadow had shut down the security cameras and she didn't see anyone outside the room as she left. What had happened? Had Eggman seen her? Was it now all over?

Amy wanted to kick herself for being so careless. The guilt began to slowly eat away at her as she continued to run. She didn't even care as she summoned her hammer to smash her way through the steel entrance, back onto the slope of the volcano. This entire important operation could now be over because of her.

Her eyes watered at the thought which was made worse by the thick clouds of ash and gas in the air, blurry her vision. Amy coughed and spluttered as she breathed in the toxic air with her laboured breathing from running so fast before she felt her foot get jammed in a rock sticking out of the ground in her haste. Amy yelped as she tripped and tumbled the rest of the way down the volcano. The sharp, jiggered rocks piercing through her pink fur and peach flesh, staining it red in her blood. She finally came to a stop as she slammed into a larger boulder at the bottom of the volcano and Amy wheezed as it knocked the breath out of her. She managed to push herself into a kneeling position as she continued to cough as clean air gradually began to fill her lungs again. She clutched her aching sides as she peered back up at the base through the thick clouds of gas that now surrounded it as the volcano became more active.

Still no sign of a pursuit. She needed to get out of there before they found her and then call Shadow to tell him what happened. With that thought, she managed to finally get back on her feet, albeit shakily after her ordeal. Coughing one last time, Amy took off into the surrounding wilderness as Eggman watched her through binoculars out his office window.

"That's right Amy. Run while you still can."

.

"Whoa! What happened to you, pinkie?" Rouge's eyes widened as Amy stumbled across the small meadow to meet the white bat and black hedgehog who were both waiting for her.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just fell down the outside of a volcano." She chuckled nervously as her arms and legs began to sting furiously. Her chest still ached and she imagined that she didn't look very pretty right now.

"I'll say. Take a good look." Rouge said as she pulled a small mirror from her pocket and held it in front of Amy's face. Amy gasped at her reflection. It looked like she had been rolling around in coal as her face was stained with dust. She was covered in various different cuts and even a few bruises were beginning to develop.

"Never mind that." Shadow cleared his throat impatiently. "We have more important issues to worry about than what one looks like."

"Right." Amy agreed as Rouge placed her mirror away and Amy tried to rub some of the dust and blood away self-consciously.

"What happened?" Shadow asked.

"I don't know." Amy replied in a rush. "The alarm just suddenly started going off so I made a run for it. It was really weird because I wasn't chased or attacked."

"That doesn't sound too good." Rouge mumbled. "Of course I'm happy you got out pinkie, don't get me wrong, but it was strange that you weren't attacked. What do you think Shads?"

Shadow said nothing as he stood there deep in thought. "I'm not liking this." He muttered at last. "There's no doubt that Eggman is up to something sinister so I suggest you remain on your guard. It doesn't look like he knew it was you that was there, otherwise you would have been killed on the spot. I suggest you keep up your original façade of wanting to help Eggman in order to get revenge on Sonic. Continue working for him and report anything back to me." He ordered.

"What are you going to do now?" Amy asked.

"Since we have received word that Eggman has collected six of the chaos emeralds so far, Rouge and I are going to get to the other one before he can. He seems to need all seven for this weapon of his so if we can capture the last emerald before he does, we may buy ourselves some time and be able to destroy this _project darkness _before he's even had chance to use it." Shadow explained.

Amy nodded.

"Until we return, you must remain on your guard. Don't do anything stupid in our absence and this still remains a secret. Sonic can't know anything, remember."

Amy sighed. "Yes."

Shadow nodded at her before skating off.

"Take care pinkie." Rouge winked as she flew off after him to find the final chaos emerald.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	11. A Cruel Deception

**Hey everyone and thank you for the wonderful reviews. I own nothing!**

* * *

**11: A Cruel Deception **

Amy's legs felt like lead as she dragged her body back home. She couldn't wait to get back inside and have a much needed and deserved bath after everything she had been through today. Her cuts continued to sting sharply and Amy looked down at her legs. Now that some of the blood had dried up she could see that some of the rocks had pierced quite deeply into her arms and legs. She really needed to get them cleaned.

"Ahhhhh!" Amy cried out as her pain suddenly intensified as something slammed into the side of her, knocking her to the ground and leaving her briefly dazed as her head slammed against the soil.

Amy heard another familiar voice yelp as they too fell to the floor with a loud _thump. _She groaned as her injuries seemed to re-ignite like fire and her cuts and bruises began to burn more than ever before.

"Amy?" She heard Sonic gasp and her vision began to straighten out again. "Amy! I'm so sorry!"

Sonic grabbed hold of her arms and helped her to her feet before he gasped as he registered her appearance. "What happened to you?"

Amy chuckled nervously, refusing to meet his eyes as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. "One of Eggman's robots came out of nowhere." She lied. "Don't worry, I destroyed it though."

She finally looked up to meet his gaze only to jump back slightly to see his eyes narrowing at her in suspicion. Oh yeah, she'd almost forgot that Shadow had told her he'd spotted them together. She really hoped that he wouldn't start asking questions. Exhaustion wasn't a good thing to be experiencing when you needed to keep lots of secrets bottled up. She needed to get home – fast.

"Anyway, sorry for walking into you." Amy mumbled. "But I really need to get back and sort myself out."

Sonic seemed to snap of his angry state to stare at her with concern swimming in his green eyes before he sighed. "I'll take you."

"That's not necessa – whoa!"

Before Amy could even finish protesting, Sonic had scooped her up into his arms and was running with her back to her house. He held onto her gently as she curled into his chest in fear, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as the world blurred passed them. They came to an abrupt stop and Sonic gently set her down on her feet and Amy opened her eyes to see them standing outside her house.

"I hate it when you do that." Amy complained. "Do you think you could give me a small warning next time?"

Sonic grinned cheekily at her. "Sure thing Amy, now let's get you inside."

He grabbed hold of her upper arm and pulled her towards the front door and Amy felt like her heart had jumped out of her chest and into her throat. It was beating erratically as Sonic's touch sent electric pulses all over her body and she felt like her legs were going to collapse under her.

Amy unlocked her door and Sonic continued to lead her inside and into the kitchen where he motioned for her to sit down on one of the breakfast bar stools before he grabbed the first aid kit hanging by her back door. He pulled out a cloth and ran it under some hot water before walking back over to Amy to dab it over a large graze on her arm, cleaning away the blood.

"Must've been one hell of a fight." Sonic muttered, although Amy felt like she could trace some elements of sarcasm.

"Yeah, well, it came out of nowhere." Amy cringed as she lied to him. "I can't believe I let it surprise me like that."

"Mmmm."

Amy winced in pain as Sonic pressed the cloth against another deep cut on her arm, mumbling a brief apology as he did so.

"Sorry for running into you by the way. I bet I've made half of these worse." Sonic sighed as he rinsed the blood covered cloth under the tap and Amy watched as the thick red liquid stained his white gloves, but Sonic didn't seem to notice or care. Amy looked down at her own attire and sighed as she saw her dirt and blood stained dress, gloves and boots. It was going to take forever to wash out.

"It's ok." Amy mumbled.

"I saw you with Shadow earlier." Sonic mentioned passively.

"Oh?"

Sonic turned around to stare at her with a slight frown on his face.

"Oh? What do you mean by oh?"

Amy shifted around uncomfortably. "You know, we just got talking and all that."

"Mmm, 'cause it looked really cosy from where I was standing." Sonic growled out through clenched teeth.

Amy's eyes widened. This wasn't the kind of reaction she had expected. She thought that he'd be angry that she was hanging out with such a dangerous person, maybe even be a little bit suspicious of her actual actions. But this seemed to come out of nowhere. What was up with him?

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, feeling confused.

Sonic shrugged, twitching slightly. "Oh I don't know. You tell me."

"I tell you?"

He nodded. "After all, you seem to be such good friends. So how come you're sneaking off to hang out with Shadow? Are we not good enough for you now?"

Amy gawped at him in a state of complete and utter shock before she pushed herself off the stool to stand up and face him better.

"What on earth has gotten into you?" She demanded, folding her arms and instantly regretted it as she winced at the pain as her injuries flexed with her arms.

"Don't turn this around on me!" Sonic snapped, making her jump slightly. "You're the one who has been acting weird lately and I want to know what's going on. When did you start seeing Shadow and why?"

"Sonic, we just met up to have a friendly chat, that's all." It wasn't exactly a lie; she was just hiding the truth from him.

"Then why keep it a secret?" He demanded, his green eyes wild with some strange emotion. Amy had never seen that look in his eyes before. He looked genuinely terrified of something and the very thought frightened her. What was he so scared of? She couldn't figure out why he was behaving like this and quizzing her on Shadow so much. Out of everything, she would've thought a small meet up with Shadow would be the least of his worries.

"I don't know, I wasn't under the impression that I was keeping it a secret. Just because I didn't happen to say anything, doesn't make it some massive secret." Amy frowned. "Besides I don't see how it is any of your business. Why do you care that I hang out with Shadow so much?"

"Because he's a psychopath!"

"Uh huh. And are you sure that's the only reason? You never have any problems when you have to work with him."

Sonic growled. "That's different Amy."

"How?"

"Because...because..." Sonic struggled to come up with anything. "Because we're both saving the world. I don't want you going anywhere near that creep."

Amy snorted. "And who are you to decide what I can and can't do? Overprotective much!"

"I'm not being overprotective!" Sonic shrieked. "I just know what Shadow's like. I've been on the other end of his wrath enough times to know that he could kill you with a small flick of his hand. He's dangerously unstable Amy!"

While Amy and Sonic continued to argue, Orbot opened the front door as quietly as he could and gently slipped a piece of paper onto the small table next to the door. He then gently closed the door behind him whilst the two hedgehogs were none the wiser.

"Come on Sonic! Why are you giving me such a hard time? What is it about Shadow that's got you so riled up?"

Sonic was about to shout back before he seemed to stop himself and stuttered as he struggled to find the right words. Amy sighed, giving up arguing with him before her phone began ringing. She tried to ignore the feeling of Sonic's eyes burning into the back of her as she made her way over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Are you alone?" Eggman demanded and Amy's heart began accelerating with fear. Had she been caught?

"No." She responded as nonchalantly as she could manage.

"Well move into another room or something."

Amy sighed and turned to face Sonic who was glaring at her.

"Could you excuse me for a minute?" She excused herself and was about to leave the room when Sonic ran over and grabbed hold of her shoulder.

"No!" Sonic yelled in frustration. "Who are you talking to?"

"It's none of your business!" Amy shouted back as she roughly pushed his hand off her shoulder and slammed the kitchen door in his face.

Sonic stared, frozen in shock, at the sudden large barrier of wood that now separated them. He growled lowly to himself and pressed his ear against the wood in hopes of hearing something, but Amy was talking too quietly to make anything out. He didn't dare go in there. He didn't fancy coming face to face with her hammer right now, especially now that she was in a bad mood. Smooth moves. Get the girl angry. Now he'd never get any information out of her.

Obviously she was talking to Shadow right now. Probably planning another secret date. Sonic began to grind his teeth at the thought. And what about those injuries? Sonic instantly knew that Amy was lying about how she had received them. So how had she got them? What if…what if they were inflicted by Shadow?

Sonic staggered backwards slightly at the mere thought. What was that fake hedgehog doing to her? He didn't trust him at all, especially with Amy. He was psycho and certainly capable of doing such a thing. Oh Amy, why won't you just tell the truth?

He couldn't take it anymore. Swinging his leg around, Sonic kicked the door down and instead of finding Amy on the phone, the room was completely empty. His eyes widened as they scanned the room. Where did she go? He noticed the front door was left open and he was amazed that she'd managed to slip out without him hearing. Wow, that girl was good.

Storming towards the door, Sonic then stopped as he noticed a small piece of paper with a very familiar symbol on the small, round table next to her front door. He reached down to pick it up and stared at it in horror. Eggman's symbol was grinning up at him and Sonic began to feel sick as he read what the note said.

_Amy,_

_We need to discuss further business together. Meet me in the Emerald Hill fields this evening and we'll talk more there. Then you'll finally be able to get your revenge on Sonic._

_\- Eggman_

Sonic didn't know how long he had been standing there staring at the letter. Minutes. Hours. Time stood still as he read the same line over and over again in his mind.

_Then you'll finally be able to have your revenge on Sonic._

This couldn't…just couldn't be true. Amy…wanting to team up with Eggman to fight against him.

NO!

He refused to believe it.

Scrunching the letter up in his powerful grip, Sonic glared in the direction of Emerald Hill. This had to be Shadow's doing. Yeah. That was it. He was doing this so he and Amy would fight. So that they'd never speak to each other again. Then he could get his evil alien hybrid hands all over Amy. Well, if Shadow wanted to play some stupid game, then Sonic would join in. Why the hell not? He'd go to Emerald Hill and see what was really there. Nothing was going to be there because Shadow was spreading poisonous lies. Lies. Lies that would make Sonic hate Amy. Well that would never happen. Because Amy would never willingly do such a thing.

He threw the paper away behind him as he sped off towards Emerald Hill. To prove once and for all that Amy would never ever dream of hurt him.

Sonic arrived at his destination and looked around for any signs of the large doctor and a small pink hedgehog. No sign of any of them.

He smirked with satisfaction before he heard Amy's voice coming from behind a large group of bushes and his smile instantly dropped into an expression of confusion. He crept towards the bush and peaked through to see Amy stood facing Eggman. It couldn't be…

"So you want me to lure Sonic to your base so you can carry out the project?" Amy questioned and Eggman smirked and nodded.

"That's the plan."

"But what is the project and what's it going to do to him?" Amy asked impatiently.

Eggman laughed evilly. "Let's just say it will mean that you'll finally get your revenge on Sonic once and for all."

Sonic watched in mute horror as Amy's face twisted into an evil grin. No. No, it couldn't be true. Amy would never willingly team up with Eggman and work against him. The look in Amy's eyes was cold and hard. Unfeeling as she watched Eggman walk back over to his mech.

"I will not fail you." Amy smiled evilly and Eggman nodded.

As his heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces, he knew he couldn't bear to be here a minute longer. The sight of Amy betraying him was too much to handle. His mind was a mess. He needed to get out. He quickly turned around and took off without being seen.

Or so he thought.

Eggman couldn't help but laugh at the look on Sonic's face at seeing him and Amy scheming together. This was all working out much better than he imagined.

.

"Tails! TAILS!"

Sonic's panicked voice made Tails jump as he looked up from his desk in alarm. Sonic dashed into his workshop and slammed his fists down on the desk, creating small dents and making Tails almost lose his balance on his chair.

"What?" Tails asked worriedly. "What is it?"

"It's Amy." Sonic managed to choke out as he ran a hand through his quills. He was out of breath and his green eyes were wild as he searched Tails' eyes, begging him to believe what he was saying. "She's…she's joined Eggman."

"W-what?"

Sonic fought back tears as the scene of Eggman and Amy together kept replaying over and over again in his mind.

"I saw her…she must have left the letter behind and I saw it. Eggman was telling her to meet him at Emerald Hill so I went there and there they were. Plotting my downfall." Sonic shrieked.

Tails' eyes widened.

"This is all my fault." Sonic whimpered.

"Your fault? Why?"

"If I hadn't been so horrible to her that day. Who am I kidding? I've been horrible to her ever since we met. I've done this to her and now she wants revenge on me."

Tails glared up at his older brother. "Sonic, you can't think like that. It doesn't matter what you've done, Amy has made this choice. She shouldn't have joined Eggman."

"I need to get to her." Sonic suddenly snapped out of his emotional state and glared determinedly.

"Can we just think about this for a minute?" Tails tried to reason. "We can't just jump in there. There might be more to this situation."

"NO!" Sonic yelled angrily at Tails and the young fox flinched back slightly. Sonic had never shouted at him like that before. He'd never seen Sonic so hysterical. It was scary.

"I need to get to her NOW. I need to make her see sense!"

Sonic never gave Tails a chance to respond as he sped off to look for the delusional pink hedgehog.

"Sonic, wait!" Tails cried out, but he was already gone.

This can't be good, Tails thought as he ran out of his workshop and began flying towards Angel Island. Sonic couldn't just run in there and do it alone. He could get himself killed as Eggman and Amy seemed to definitely have something planned.

They would need all the help they could get.

.

"What's so funny?" Amy demanded, confused as Eggman continued to laugh manically.

"Because the stupid blue hedgehog actually fell for it."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Fell for what?"

Eggman finally managed to stop laughing and cleared his throat, clasping his hands behind his back and smirking proudly down at Amy.

"I had Orbot leave a little letter for Sonic to find back at your house telling him of our whereabouts right now." He explained whilst still trying to contain his laughter.

"W-why did you do that? I thought you didn't want him to know of our plans?" Amy asked taking a slight step back, not liking the way Eggman was looking at her.

Eggman made his way back over to his mech. He rummaged for something before hiding whatever he had found behind his back and making his way over to Amy.

"How else was I going to lure him in?" Eggman asked rhetorically. "It really has been a pleasure working with you, but unfortunately for you, I've know what you've been up to pretty much since the beginning."

Amy could feel herself going pale as her heart skipped a beat in her chest at Eggman's words.

"It's been a lot of fun and I thank you for providing me with the methods of defeating Sonic. Now I can finally succeed where I have previously failed many times. I will conquer the universe with this new power I am about to gain. I will step over you and your friends, victorious and the ruler of all." Eggman took another step towards her as Amy shook her head in denial.

"No! You can't!" Amy begged, her eyes filling up with tears. "Leave Sonic and the others alone!"

"You only have yourself to blame. It was you who gave me everything I needed." Eggman thanked her. "Game over Amy."

Eggman swung his hidden hand around, knocking a hard metal object into Amy's head, knocking her to the ground.

Amy screamed in pain as the object collided with her head and she could feel something warm and wet trickling down her quills and onto her shoulders. She tried to push herself up, but the pain become unbearable, clouding her vision and making her dizzy.

She felt the object hit the back of her head again and the darkness of unconsciousness surrounded her.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	12. According to Plan

**Thanks for all of the reviews guys!**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**12: According to Plan**

Pain. That was all Amy could feel. Every inch of her body was throbbing and aching as her eyes gently fluttered open. All she could see was darkness and she was beginning to wonder if she was dead. She could feel a solid metal ground beneath and noises began drifting closer to her…footsteps?

A heavy metal door that sounded like it hadn't been used in a while opened and a light flickered on, illuminating the small room around Amy. It was a prison cell.

She remained lying still on the ground, too weak to move and she let out a choked gasp when she noticed Eggman smirking at her from the doorway. His blue glasses were sparkling in the light as he leaned cockily against the metal framing.

"Nice to see you're finally awake. It's been no fun not having anyone to taunt." He chuckled.

Amy let out a shaky breath as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her vision went slightly fuzzy before clearing, but the throbbing in the back of her head remained just as painful. In fact the movement may have made it worse. She reached her gloved hand around and gently pressed it against the spot that was hurting so much and pulled her hand back and gasped when she saw her hand was covered in blood. It dripped between her fingers and onto the silver floor, creating small puddles. Amy looked up at Eggman in alarm.

"That's what traitors get for double-crossing me." He sighed in mock sympathy. "I knew that you would never actually betray Sonic."

This re-awakened Amy's memories of the events prior to being locked up here. She glared at Eggman, although every small twitch of the muscles in her face made her head injury throb even more. She could feel the blood trickling down onto her shoulders and she knew that she needed to get help soon.

"I-If you k-knew all along…" Amy panted as she struggled to speak. "T-then why did y-you let me work for you?" Speaking made her feel sick and the dizziness began to return again. Her ears began ringing and she knew she was in serious trouble.

Eggman laughed, although to Amy, it sounded like he was underwater.

"Because I needed the information. You gave it to me feeling so confident that you and Shadow could stop my plans." He explained happily. "In fact, in doing what you have done, you have played right into my hands. You made this so much easier than it originally was. I couldn't believe my luck when you came to me. The world is now mine for the taking."

"N-no! I won't let you." Amy's voice broke as she attempted to yell. She tried to stand up, but just ended up falling forwards back onto the floor as she completely lost her sense of balance. This made Eggman laugh at her harder.

"Bah! You can barely even save yourself." He laughed, walking over to her and looking down at her as if she was nothing but dirt. "Ahhhhh, Sonic save me!" He squealed in a high pitched voice.

Amy whimpered.

"Sonic, I've been kidnapped again, help me! Sonic, I've caused trouble again, please clean up my mess. Sonic, sonic, sonic!" Eggman continued to mock as tears began forming in Amy's eyes, making her vision even more blurry than it already was.

"You're pathetic!" Eggman yelled. "Why can't you see that? Sonic will never want you. Why would he want such a weak girl like you? A girl whose more trouble than she's worth."

"Stop it." Amy pleaded as his words stung worse than the blows to her head. The worst part was that she knew what he was saying was true. She began sobbing at the thought.

"Awww, do you see what I mean?" Eggman sneered. "Too bad you'll never get to see what project darkness really is. I know how much you were _dying _to see what it was. Now you'll never know."

Amy tried to push herself up off the ground again, but just toppled over again. Her limbs refused to work correctly and the pain in the back of her skull got worse. She looked down and now realised that she had collapsed in a puddle of her own blood. She was slowly bleeding to death.

"Today will be the day I finally defeat you all." Eggman sighed dreamily. "I think I'm going to cry."

"S-Sonic will n-never let you get away with it." Amy gasped out as she struggled to keep her thoughts coherent. Shapes and colours were dancing across her vision and she still felt like she was underwater. Blood continued to ooze out of her head and onto the floor, where it soaked into Amy's fur and clothes. She was going to die. To be honest, she didn't care. She'd given up. She knew she deserved everything she got for being so stupid.

Eggman snorted. "I already have gotten away with it, dear. Now, I need to prepare for my victory. It's a shame you won't be able to see my plan in action and the downfall of your friends. I estimate that you have, oh I don't know, about a few minutes left to live? Maybe an hour if you're lucky?"

He burst into another fit of laughter and continued laughing as he left the room, closing the door behind him and locking it.

Amy groaned as the pain was unbearable. She tried to drag her body towards the door with her last amount of energy, but only managed to shuffle forward a few centimetres before she collapsed again. She needed to alert Shadow that something had gone wrong. In her last moments she needed to send out a warning that should hopefully save them. Shadow had promised her that if something was to happen to her, then he would protect Sonic from harm. She just hoped that he fulfilled his promise.

Pulling her wrist up in front of her face, Amy inspected the golden ring to see where Shadow had placed her distress signal. If there was any time to use it, it was definitely now. She felt the inside of it and smiled with relief when she felt a small switch under her finger. She flicked it with her last ounce of strength before she finally gave in and collapsed into the pool of her own blood.

.

"Come to mama." Rouge smiled greedily as she pressed her hands and face against the glass prison containing her precious emerald.

"Stand back." Shadow ordered and Rouge did as she was told. "Chaos spear!" Shadow yelled, shooting the yellow energy from his hands, creating a perfect slice at the top of the glass container. An alarm immediately began blaring.

Guards came running in and had them surrounded in an instant. Steel shutters sealed the doors behind them and the human guards pointed their guns at the black hedgehog and white bat. They didn't even seem fazed as the guards glared at them.

"That is private property you are currently stealing." One of the guards yelled. "I order you to lave it alone and turn yourselves in without resistance."

"Private property?" Rouge gasped, looking offended. "I am merely claiming what is rightfully mine. All of the world's precious gems are mine so how can it be stealing?"

Shadow smirked as he grabbed hold of the red chaos emerald and held it tightly in his hands in front of him. The guards gasped and aimed their guns at him.

"I order you to freeze!" The same guard yelled.

Shadow grabbed hold of Rouge's wrist and concentrated hard. "Chaos control!" He yelled as time and space warped around them. The guards gasped and shielded their eyes as Shadow and Rouge disappeared in a bright burst of red light.

Rouge gasped and staggered dizzily as she felt her feet land on solid ground again and Shadow released her wrist and stared at the emerald in his hand.

"Those creeps, think they could keep my emerald." Rouge spat. "Who do they think they are?"

Shadow ignored her and was soon distracting by a beeping noise coming from his wrist. Only it wasn't the commander calling him, it was a distress signal. His red eyes widened as he pressed buttons on his communicator, displaying the location of Amy Rose.

"What is it?" Rouge asked, slightly concerned as she took in the look on Shadow's face.

"It's Amy."

"Amy? Is she ok?"

"I don't think so." Shadow mumbled. "Her distress signal has been activated and she's currently in Eggman's base. Her cover has been blown."

Rouge's eyes widened. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Now that we have the final emerald. We can take on Eggman. I'll call for reinforcements to meet us there."

.

All Sonic could see was red as he stood on top of a hill overlooking the volcano where he had finally discovered Eggman's base. It had taken him hours, but he found it. He knew it would've had to have been in a place where there was a lot of energy. This active volcano was perfect. Sonic could see the glow of the lava reflecting off the metal walls even through the smoke and ash.

"Alright Amy." Sonic glared straight ahead. "No more games."

He pushed his legs forward, creating a sonic boom as he ran as fast as he could towards the base, arriving in seconds. He paused a few yards away from the door as he saw a black blur in the distance. Shadow and Rouge were lurking near the door. Why was he not surprised? Those two had to be involved somehow.

Before Sonic could even register his actions, he was over at Shadow's location in a flash and had his hand clenched around his prey's neck.

Shadow's eyes widened in the sudden shock of the unexpected attack before he kicked Sonic off him, sending him crashing into a rock. Sonic managed to stable himself, preventing himself from falling into the lake of lava and charged towards Shadow again, punching him square in the face.

Shadow grunted, covering his nose in pain before his red eyes seemed to set on fire as they burned into Sonic's cold green ones.

"Faker." He acknowledged with a sneer before he removed his hand and spat out blood. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Sonic just growled menacingly at him, his quills standing on end in irritation as he stood poised, ready to fight. "I don't have time for formalities."

Sonic charged forwards, swinging his right leg around to land a kick in Shadow's stomach but the black hedgehog stopped him. He grabbed hold of Sonic's leg in a tight grip and flipped his blue doppelganger over his head, slamming Sonic against the rocky ground. Sonic snatched his leg out of Shadow's grip and kicked him in the chest with his other leg. Shadow staggered backwards and his hands charged up with chaos energy before Rouge's impatient voice interrupted them.

"Cool it guys!" She yelled as she hovered over them, her wings flapping gently as her white fur had an orange hue in the hot glow of the lava. "We have a mission, remember Shadow?"

"Yeah, a mission to turn Amy to the dark side." Sonic muttered sarcastically as he coughed out ash and dirt and got up off the ground.

"What?" Rouge shot him a confused look.

"What are you doing here anyway faker?" Shadow questioned him.

"I'm here to get Amy, with your permission." Sonic snarled at him giving Shadow a look of pure loathing. "After all, you seem to enjoy making innocent girls do your dirty work and turning them evil."

Shadow remained expressionless until Sonic turned and spin dashed into the main entrance, disappearing in a blue blur.

"Faker, wait!" Shadow pleaded in alarm.

"Ah let him go get the girl." Rouge shrugged indifferently.

"No, because Eggman needs him. He's delivered himself right into Eggman's hands!" Shadow yelled as he got ready to take off after him.

"Shouldn't we wait until the GUN reinforcements arrive?" Rouge asked.

Shadow just glared at her. "You can, but I made a promise to Amy that I intend to keep."

And with that, Shadow took off after Sonic.

.

"Eggman!" Sonic yelled as he burst through the metal doors and into the main hall of his lair. Eggman was stood on an elevated platform at some sort of complex looking control panel with a white sheet covering a large object underneath him. Sonic glared murderously up at him.

"Don't you ever knock?" Eggman snapped as Sonic's sudden entrance made him jump.

"That's the whole point of a surprise attack. Now where's Amy?" Sonic demanded.

"My my, so demanding."

"I'm warning you Egghead! Have you brainwashed her?"

Eggman pretended to be offended. "How could you accuse me of such a thing? But jokes aside, Amy came to me on her own merit. I have done nothing."

Eggman's words felt like they had pierced Sonic's heart. So Amy really had betrayed him. He imagined life now. Fighting against Amy instead of alongside her. Attacking her. Defeating her. The mental images made Sonic feel sick. No matter what, he didn't feel like he could bring himself to hurt her.

"Sonic!" He heard a familiar voice yell.

He turned around to see Tails, Knuckles and Blaze all run into the room, closely followed by Shadow as he stared at his communicator before he glared up at Eggman. Wait…wasn't Shadow on Eggman's side?

"It's over Eggman. Soldiers are on their way here right to arrest you and there's no escape for we will stop you. Hand over Amy." Shadow ordered.

"Perfect; Sonic's little squad." Eggman grinned from ear to ear. "Amy will not be joining us tonight as she is trying out one of my new prison cells. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if you'll find nothing but a body."

Everyone cried out in fear at Eggman's words and Sonic had a hard time standing up straight. It had to be a bluff. If Amy was on Eggman's side, why would he try and kill her? None of this was making sense anymore.

Four huge robots suddenly appeared and marched in, grabbing hold of Sonic's friends. Tails and Knuckles squirmed around, but to no avail. Blaze tried burning her way out, but the robots seemed to be immune to her powers. Even Shadow couldn't use his chaos powers against them.

"Do you like my new pets?" Eggman chuckled as he watched them all squirm whilst Sonic stared up at them in horror. "Built with chaos energy storage tanks inside them and are pretty much invincible so I'd stop trying to escape if I were you. You'll only embarrass yourselves. Oh and by the way, thank you for being such an amazing delivery boy Shadow."

The large robot holding Shadow snatched the chaos emerald off him as he struggled and Shadow froze as it was handed to Eggman.

"If you try anything, I'll personally rip you apart!" Shadow snarled.

"I thought you were on Eggman's side?" Sonic called up to Shadow.

"No you blue idiot!"

"You'll never get away with this Eggman!" Tails yelled before choking in pain as the robot tightened its grip on the young fox.

"Let him go!" Sonic yelled in anger, not being able to stand seeing his little brother in pain.

He was about to dash to try and attack the robot before two other robots appeared and held Sonic high up in the air by his arms. He used all of his strength to try and break free, but to no avail.

"Clearly, these robots have the power to kill Sonic." Shadow spoke to Eggman. "Why not just defeat him with them?"

Eggman chuckled once before he pulled the white sheet off the large item under his control panel. The weapon towered above them and looked like a futuristic ray gun. The lights on it were a dim shade of blue until Eggman reached over and placed the red chaos emerald into a slot on top of it. He fiddled with the controls and the weapon beeped and buzzed as it came to life, aiming directly at Sonic. Sonic didn't seem too bothered about it as he watched his friends struggle, feeling weak and pathetic as he couldn't do a thing about it.

"Because I don't want to kill him." Eggman answered Shadow's question. "With this weapon and these robots, I will finally be able to rule the world, no, the universe!" He laughed evilly.

"That's impossible" Blaze yelled.

"Execute them." Eggman ordered, sounding bored. The robots began constricting their metal hands around Knuckles, Shadow, Tails and Blaze. "You can all join Amy in the next life."

"NO!" Sonic shrieked and began thrashing around furiously.

"Ruling the universe won't be impossible…if I have Sonic's help." Eggman smirked as he held his hand over the button, ready to press it. "Because he's going to join me."

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Eggman slammed his hand down in the button. The weapon charged up with energy, the blue lights glowing brighter. A bright laser shot out of it. Screams echoed around the room as it hit Sonic directly in the chest.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions and don't forget to feel free to leave Sonamy one-shot requests. PM me with them anytime. **


	13. Full Potential

**I know I told some people that I would update on Wednesday so I'm really sorry that it didn't happen. I've had exams this week and then I get too tired to write and become creatively blocked. I hope you understand. **

**AlexaTheHedgehog: Thanks for the request. I like that idea so I'll be writing that one for sure! **

**Thank you everyone for all of the reviews. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**13: Full Potential **

Sonic glowed brightly as the laser continued to be fired into his chest, screaming in agony as the robots kept him pinned in place, high in the air. The others continued to thrash about, trying to free themselves in order to help him, but the robots were too strong. Eggman continued laughing evilly from the platform, watching eagerly as Sonic tried to break free.

The pain was unbearable. He could feel every ounce of chaos energy that was being forced into his body, reacting with his system as he grew angrier at the sight of his friends having the very life squeezed out of them. His fur turned golden as he entered his super state, only the fact that he wasn't willingly accepting the power was wreaking havoc with his body. He felt like he was being torn into millions of pieces as his anger continued to boil. He grunted and groaned as he felt something beginning to snap.

"What's the matter Sonic?" Eggman teased. "Are you too pathetic to save your friends? Look at them! They're being crushed to death and it's all your fault."

"N-No." Sonic managed to choke out as every inch of his body continued to burn.

"You'll never be able to save them like you failed to save Amy."

Sonic's shocked red eyes flickered over to Eggman as he tried to read his expression. The mad doctor seemed so serious. Wasn't it actually a bluff after all? Was Amy really…gone?

"Yes Sonic, that stupid girl is dead as we speak and you know what, I think I did her a favour." He laughed. "But know this: she died wishing it was you that was the one dead."

"Noooooooooooooo!" Sonic screamed like a caged wild animal. His thrashing grew worse as he felt the brittle object inside his mind snap. No, not snap. Shatter. He felt his mind shatter like thin glass being thrown carelessly to the ground.

His friends watched in horror as the blue hedgehog's body began to twist and morph. The sight was so horrific that Tails turned away in fear whilst all the others could do was stare with wide eyes.

Sonic's colour changed. No longer was his fur a shiny royal blue. It changed into a dull, dark blue. His quills remained standing on end like his super state and a dark mist began to surround him, dancing off him in graceful waves, enforcing that he was a creature of great power. His whole body quivered, almost like he was having a seizure as his screams were replaced with occasional groans.

The room was silent as everyone stared. However that was soon broken as Eggman began to laugh again.

"It worked. It worked!" He bellowed. "Project Darkness was a success!"

Sonic's head snapped up at Eggman's voice. His eyes shot open, revealing nothing but white eyeballs; no pupils or irises. They glowed hauntingly in the dark mist that surrounded his form, creating deep feelings of dread in his friends as they held little to no emotion.

"With Sonic's current state at my command, I will be able to rule the universe! Because you actually a very powerful creature aren't you Sonic?" Eggman chuckled. "You've been holding back."

Sonic remained motionless.

"Yes, who knew you held such power inside you and now, with the help of the chaos emeralds, you have reached a new super state. A dark super state." He analysed.

"This is what you've been planning all this time?!" Shadow yelled. "Controlling Sonic so he'll help you rule the world?"

Eggman smirked. "You catch on fast Shadow."

"This is a new low Eggman." Knuckles growled out.

"Sonic! You have to fight this!" Tails cried out to his best friend, worried tears forming in his blue eyes.

Sonic continued to remain motionless.

"Sorry Tails, he'll only do as I tell him." Eggman pretended to sound guilty about that before he burst out laughing again. "Now, let's see your true power _Dark Sonic._" Eggman thought for a moment. "Ah yes, destroy your friends!"

The four of them gasped whilst Eggman watched in anticipation as Sonic's head slowly turned towards his friends. He stared at them emotionlessly for a few moments before his face seemed to ignite with pure rage. With one easy yank of his arms, he ripped the robots' arms clear out of their sockets. Sparks flew out of them and they made pathetic wheezing noises as they shut down before they fell limply to the ground with loud clattering sounds.

Sonic remained floating in the air, tossing the arms aside while Eggman squealed with delight.

"Magnificent!"

Sonic turned towards his friends and let out a small manic chuckle and flew towards them. They screamed and prepared for their imminent deaths, but all they heard was the sound of metal scraping against metal and the same sound of malfunctioning robots. The four of them fell to the floor as the robots' grip of them weakened and their metal parts collapsed around them. Their heads turned to look up at the same time to look at Sonic who remained hovering the air, tilting his head to one side as he smiled innocently at Eggman.

"What is the meaning of this?" Eggman demanded. "Destroy them!"

Sonic didn't do anything.

"I order you to destroy them now!"

Sonic tutted while shaking his head and everyone in the room cringed at the sound as it echoed horrifically, like someone scraping their finger nails on a blackboard.

"Now why would I do that?" Dark Sonic questioned excitedly, speaking for the first time and everyone continued to stare at him in fear. His voice still sounded like Sonic only with more of a cold, hard edge to it; like he was trying to hold back a burst of manic laughter.

"I don't take orders from anybody, certainly not you!" Dark Sonic laughed. "Now you will die!"

Eggman gasped and staggered backwards. "S-Sonic! Come on n-now. Y-You can't m-mean that?"

Dark Sonic began slowly floating in Eggman's direction, smirking at Eggman's discomfort.

"It's funny when you plead for your life. Bad people like you deserve to die." Dark Sonic's voice was mockingly sympathetic as Eggman backed away and pressed himself against the wall. There was no escape. Even Eggman wasn't truly sure how much power Sonic held now, but judging by the way he easily destroyed those robots without breaking a sweat, he was willing to bet he had a lot.

"FREEZE!"

GUN soldiers led by Rouge stormed into the room, all pointing their weapons at Eggman and Dark Sonic. They all froze in fear when they took in Sonic's new appearance, but Dark Sonic didn't seem affected by their presence as he viewed their weapons with distaste.

"Don't hurt him!" Tails pleaded as he stepped between the soldiers and Dark Sonic.

"No don't." Shadow agreed. "He seems to be incredibly powerful and we don't want to provoke him."

Dark Sonic continued to stare at the soldiers with a raised eyebrow. Challenging them. Daring them. The soldiers' fingers trembled on the triggers of their guns as they tried to look anywhere but the glowing white eyes that seemed to stare right into their souls. Everyone in the room was as still as a statue, timidly waiting to see what Dark Sonic did next like an unpredictable wild animal. Everyone jumped slightly when his head expectantly snapped back around to stare at Eggman.

Eggman squeaked in fright, trying to push himself further against the wall as if he somehow expected to morph through it.

"Sonic, I'm sorry, I won't hurt your friends anymore!" Eggman begged. "I'll retire into a nice countryside cottage and you'll never hear from me again! Please! I swear! Just give me a chance!"

"No chances." Sonic growled out and began floating towards him.

With trembling fingers, one of the GUN soldiers fired at Dark Sonic in fear whilst everyone cried out in fear of what might happen. The GUN soldier continued to sweat nervously as the bullet bounced off Dark Sonic and he stared at the spot where the bullet had hit him before glaring down at the soldier.

"That's why you never bring a rookie on these missions." Rouge muttered nervously.

Dark Sonic flew down towards them in a flash, snarling in anger whilst the other soldiers began panicking and shooting at him. The sound of gunfire was all that could be heard throughout the room. Eggman took this opportunity to escape in his mech now that Dark Sonic no longer had him cornered. The bullets continued to bounce off Sonic while Tails, Knuckles and Blaze ducked to avoid them. Shadow and Rouge sprang into action, trying to prevent the soldiers from shooting and angering Dark Sonic further.

"Great, Eggman got away." Knuckles huffed and Dark Sonic's ear twitched at his voice. He turned around, now ignoring the GUN soldiers, before flying out of the room.

"Where's he going?" Blaze asked, slowly standing up from the ground and dusting her purple dress off as she stared at the place where Dark Sonic had disappeared in horror.

"I don't know." Shadow replied. "But we need to find Amy." He then turned to the GUN soldiers. "You morons need to go after Eggman and bring him into custody. No doubt he won't have many weapons on him right now as his primary objective will be to get as far away from here as possible."

.

Amy felt like she was floating in an ocean of pain. She kept fading in and out of consciousness. She could hear loud noises echoing around the base and what sounded like gunfire. The noises bounced around in her head as if a million bees were stinging the inside of her skull repeatedly and she let out a small whimper, wondering when death would come to claim her. It couldn't be long now. She knew she had already lost a lot of blood and her periods of consciousness grew shorter and shorter. She could no longer move. She couldn't feel her hands and feet as she lay paralysed in a pool of her own blood, begging for death to take her away. No more pain.

The door of her cell creaked open, but still she remained motionless. She eyes fluttered open, half lidded as she tried to see whoever had just walked into the room. All she saw was a black mist and wondered if this was death. Her eyes closed again and she felt something cold press against her forehead. It felt nice against the burning pain and she concluded that this must be death. What else would explain the sudden pain fading away?

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" She heard familiar voices scream from the door and the wonderful cold touch left her forehead only to be replaced with different pairs of warm hands, checking her pulse, shaking her, demanding her attention.

People were talking at her, but she couldn't understand. She couldn't hear. Amy almost sighed with relief when she fell unconscious again and she prayed that this time, she wouldn't wake up again.

.

Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Cream and Blaze all sat silently in the hospital waiting room. Amy had been admitted here almost an hour ago after they had rescued her from Eggman's and Dark Sonic's clutches. Blaze had told Cream the news and the young rabbit insisted on being here. Tails swung his legs back and forth, gripping the sides of his seat while his blue eyes remained dead. Knuckles had his arms tightly folded with his eyes closed and a neutral expression with Shadow sat in a similar way, although he kept his eyes on the clock as the time changed to 12:09am. Cream was weeping into Blaze's shoulder, most of her pained cries inaudible as she was pressed so deeply into Blaze's neck. Blaze kept one arm loosely wrapped around the young, distressed rabbit while she gazed forward, appearing to be in sort of trance like state of disbelief.

Cream finally sniffed, breaking the silence.

"Do you think Amy is going to be ok?" She asked, her voice breaking as she struggled to contain her sobs.

Blaze sighed, coming back into reality. "I'm not sure Cream, but Amy's strong."

"Yeah, if she has any fight left in her." Knuckles grunted, slouching further into the fabric chairs of the hospital waiting room. They were the only ones there with only the occasional few doctor rushing passed and a few patients wandering the corridors during the early hour.

"Knuckles." Tails hissed.

"Just trying to be realistic." Knuckles sighed. "I don't want her to die any more than you do but – "

Cream whimpered when Knuckles mention the word 'die' and everyone turned to glare at the red echidna.

"It can't come to that." Cream cried. "Amy and I had so many plans for the future. She's my best friend and and and," She burst into another round of tears, unable to finish her sentence.

"The doctors are doing everything they can." Tails sighed, pinching his forehead in stress. "There's nothing we can do but sit here and wait."

"Come on Cream, let's go to the café." Blaze pulled Cream up by her hand and gently led her away from the waiting room, leaving the boys alone and hopefully distract Cream a little bit.

Once they were out of ear shot, they immediately began talking about events.

"Where do you think he's gone?" Tails asked Shadow, both of them looking incredibly troubled.

Shadow let out a small sigh as he unfolded his arms to rest them on his legs.

"I don't know, but it's a good thing we got to Amy before he could do anything."

Tails nodded in agreement. "But Sonic wouldn't hurt her, would he? I mean, he saved us from Eggman."

"There's no telling what he could do. As far as he knows, Amy works for Eggman so he could've easily finished her off for good."

Tails and Knuckles both shuddered at the thought.

"So Amy wasn't working for Eggman the whole time?" Tails gasped.

Shadow shook his head. "No, she was acting as a double agent. I approached her about it and she immediately took up on the offer, hoping to impress dark mist boy. Only she was found out and I'm not quite sure how and the events leading up to her imprisonment."

"That's pretty crazy." Knuckles whistled lowly. "Amy, a double agent. I never guessed."

"Then she did her job well." Shadow smirked. "It was her task to find out Eggman's plans and access information about project darkness whilst pretending to work for Eggman in order to get close him. It was important that she carried out his orders so he would trust her and be convinced of her loyalty. That's why she stole the chaos emerald."

"Amy did that?" Tails gasped.

Shadow nodded. "Then it was me that crashed your computer to prevent you from tracking it and blowing her cover. Eggman gave her the task to spy on Sonic so it was important that she kept up pretences on both sides."

"I still think she should've just told us." Knuckles snapped.

Shadow shot him a glare. "It was a need to know operation. Amy was under my command and I told her she couldn't."

"Sonic was right about you controlling her then." Knuckles replied, glaring back at him.

"We did what we had to do to save Sonic."

"Yeah? Well look where that got you."

"Will you guys shut up?!" Tails yelled abruptly and both of them stared at him in shock. Tails never shouted at anyone.

"In case you've forgotten, one of my best friends is in a serious condition so can we save the arguments for later?!"

Both Knuckles and Shadow looked down in shame, saying nothing as they continued to listen to the loud tick of the clock.

"What are we going to do if she dies?" Knuckles asked, breaking the silence.

Tails fought back tears. "I don't know."

"What about Sonic? What are we going to tell him?"

"In the state that he's in?" Shadow frowned at Knuckles in disbelief. "Sonic's emotions obviously play some part in this new dark form of his so telling him should be the last thing we do if we want to have any hope of bringing the real Sonic back."

"Real Sonic." Tails repeated in a whisper. Was the dark creature he had seen before him in Eggman's base no longer his best friend? Was Sonic now just there in body? No one truly knew for sure exactly what Eggman had done to him. Or even if there was any way to reverse it. Was the Sonic they all knew and loved gone forever? Losing both Sonic _and _Amy. Tails wasn't sure how the gang was going to cope.

All three of them looked up as a doctor poked his head around the corner. An elderly looking male owl with spectacles on the end of his small beak, wearing a white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. He stared at the three of them, unsure.

"Are you Amy's friends? The ones who brought her in?" He asked.

They all stood up quickly and nodded.

"What's going on? Is she going to be ok?" Tails voice cracked slightly with emotion as he awaited the doctor's analysis of Amy's condition.

The doctor sighed sympathetically and they all instantly knew it wasn't good news.

"I think you should prepare for the worst." The doctor explained.

"W-what?" Tails gasped out in disbelief. This could not be happening…it had to be a nightmare.

"What do you mean prepare for the worst?!" Knuckles demanded angrily. "You're doctors! You're supposed to be helping her!"

"I'm afraid we can only do so much." The doctor remained patient. "Amy is in a very critical condition. She has received major trauma to the head and lost a lot of blood. We've managed to stop the bleeding and performed and emergency transfusion, but now all we can do is wait and see if she'll pull through."

"What chances are we looking at of her making it?" Tails demanded as tears flowed freely from his eyes.

The doctor sighed. "It's unlikely she will make it through the night."

The three of them gasped. Knuckles sank back down into his chair, Shadow remained still and Tails began to sob.

"But, she can't die!" Tails yelled. "She's so young!"

"I suggest that you say your goodbyes and say anything that needs to be said." The doctor suggested sadly. "Follow me to her room."

.

Amy awoke groggily to the sound of an annoying beeping sound. Something was strapped to her face and she reached a hand up to move it only to notice that she had loads of tubes sticking out of her arms. Where was she? She was lying down and she couldn't move. She immediately began to panic and the beeping increased with it. She whimpered in pain as she weakly tried to yank her arms free of the tubes.

Managing to move her head to the side, she realised through the haze in her brain that she was in a hospital room. Panic continued to fill her body as a dark mist walked into the room. Her green eyes widened as it slowly stalked towards her. She was just about able to make out a pair of glowing white eyes through her blurred vision and let out a choked gasp once she realised it was reaching out to her gently. Like it wanted to cup her cheeks…or strangle her…

.

Tails, Knuckles and Shadow continued to follow the doctor up the stairs and onto a long corridor with a large sign that said 'intensive care'. They continued to follow quietly before a loud, bloodcurdling, familiar scream caught their attention.

The three of them exchanged a glance before they pushed passed the shocked doctor and followed the scream into a small hospital room. Gasping at the frightening and bizarre sight, they all froze upon bursting into the room.

Amy's legs were thrashing about on the bed, but the upper part of her body remained still. Her eyes were wide and wild with fear as they locked on something that was in front of her face. Her oxygen mask had fallen from her face and few tubes had removed themselves, sounding the alarm to the doctors. She kept angling her face away, her lips pressed tightly shut as she continued to kick with surprising strength for her condition. Amy finally seemed to manage to wiggle her arms free and looked like she was trying to claw at something above her, only nothing was there.

She looked almost possessed.

Doctors and nurses ran in, pushing Tails, Knuckles and Shadow out of the way as they immediately went to work to help Amy calm down.

"She may be going into shock." They heard one of the doctors note as he analysed her rapidly increasing heart rate. Amy screamed loudly, startling the doctors before they began trying to attach the tubes back into her. A nurse pinned the oxygen mask to Amy's face and she seemed to relax once it was back on and the doctors sighed with relief when her thrashing ceased and she seemed to calm down.

"NO!" Tails cried out as her heart rate continued to slow.

"We're losing her!" One of the doctors cried out as he began performing CPR.

One of the nurses rushed over to push the three spectators out of the room, but not before they heard the long drawn out beep that reported the sudden halt in Amy's heart.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. I'm beginning to wonder if I need to change the rating of this story due to content that will come up in the future. I'll leave it for now, but if you guys think it needs changing, then let me know. **


	14. Unknown Motivation

**Thank you for all of the reviews! The feedback is always much appreciated. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**14: Unknown Motivation **

_One Month Later…_

In a dimly lit conference room in GUN headquarters, Shadow was sat in a leather recliner with his arms tightly folded and staring forward with his normal, cold, hard red eyes. Rouge was leaning against the polished oak table, drumming her fingers against it as she waited. Neither of them spoke or looked at each other as they remained in the room on the Commander's orders.

The heavy metal door suddenly opened, causing them both to look up as the Commander walked confidently in, his hands clasped behind his back and his head held up high.

"Commander." Rouge nodded in greeting as he stopped in front of the large TV screen in front of them that dominated most of the wall.

"Agent Rouge. Agent Shadow." The Commander nodded back.

"Are more going to be arriving to this meeting?" Rouge asked as she gestured with her gloved hand at the empty conference room around them.

The Commander shook his head before adjusting his jacket that proudly sported many gold medals for his service to the nations. His brown and blue eyes watching Shadow and Rouge carefully before he spoke up.

"I actually just need to speak with the both of you." He explained. "It's about Dark Sonic."

"Have you caught him?" Rouge asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation.

"No." He replied. "I know that I've had you two busy with the mission of capturing Doctor Eggman, but I'm now transferring you to another operation: the capture of Dark Sonic."

"Impossible." Rouge quickly shook her head at the Commander's request.

"Maybe it would've been without our help." Shadow spoke up for the first time. "Dark Sonic is made up of Chaos energy much like me. I may most certainly stand a chance."

"So this is about proving your better than Sonic again?" Rouge rolled her eyes.

"No." Shadow growled out. "This is more than some personal vendetta now. Dark Sonic is causing mayhem everywhere and he needs to be stopped. Then with Tails' help, we may be able to find a way to cure him."

"And what if Tails can't find one? Finding Eggman is our best bet. He created this…creature. Surely he must know how to solve this problem?"

Shadow sighed. "If you want to continue hunting for the Doctor then fine, but I'm turning my attention towards Dark Sonic. I made a promise to Amy."

The room became silent at the mention of her name. Rouge stopped drumming her fingers and even the Commander bowed his head slightly.

"Her efforts were valiant." The Commander spoke carefully. "We'll make sure that she is never forgotten here and what she sacrificed in the name of justice."

Shadow gave a firm nod. "So what am I to do about the Dark Sonic problem the world now has?"

The Commander pulled a remote out of his pocket and switched the TV on. A map of the planet appeared on the screen and Shadow and Rouge stared up at in expectation, waiting for the Commander to explain. He pressed another button and ten red dots appeared in many random places.

"These are the places Dark Sonic has been spotted this week alone." The Commander explained, placing his hands behind his back again. "The most recent sighting was just north of Spagonia. Eyewitnesses quickly reported that he was just hovering in the air until our forces attacked and he turned violent. There were no deaths, but there were a few severe casualties. During the sighting before that one, some hikers had spotted him near a volcano. They said that he seemed to be looking for something. There doesn't seem to be any pattern in the places he has visited - at least, not that we could find anyway."

"What could he possibly be looking for?" Rouge asked in confusion.

"We don't know, but he's too powerful for our soldiers to face. There have been no deaths so far, but at this rate, Dark Sonic could end up wiping us all out. You two are our best and most powerful agents and that's why we need your help."

"You flatter us." Rouge winked at him.

"Agent Rouge, this is no time jokes." The Commander snapped. "Dark Sonic must be stopped at all costs."

"At all costs?" Shadow questioned suspiciously.

The Commander gave him a cold hard stare. "We received word from the President that we have permission to kill him."

"What? Not Sonic, surely?!" Rouge gasped, placing a hand on her chest in shock. "After everything he has done for this planet?"

"We're not even sure he is Sonic anymore." The Commander replied angrily. "He's showed no signs of changing back to normal and we can't take any chances with the safety of civilians at stake. He is a dangerous threat to everyone now."

Shadow and Rouge remained quiet as they knew better than to argue too much with their superior. They needed to save Sonic and they needed to remain in the Commander's good books to do so. If they were fired, they would lose their connection with GUN and they would have no idea what they were planning to do to Sonic if they caught him before they did. By the looks of it, Sonic's future didn't look very good.

"Are you both in, or not?" The Commander demanded, giving them a cold stare.

Shadow and Rouge both exchanged a glance before they nodded.

"Good." The Commander smiled. "I was beginning to wonder if we were going to have some issues. Now how exactly are we going to capture Dark Sonic?"

"I think we need to bring his friends into it." Shadow proposed and the Commander stared at him as if he was insane.

"Putting innocent civilians in danger? Are you mad?"

"They know him better than anyone." Shadow explained his logic. "His best friend Tails is just as smart as Doctor Eggman and they all have experience with Sonic's super states. They may be able to provide the much needed advantage."

The Commander thought about Shadow's idea for a moment before he finally nodded in agreement. "Very well. Shadow, I leave you in charge of this operation. Put an end to this madness."

"You bet we will." Rouge smirked.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden loud shriek of the alarm. The room turned to red and the three of them covered their ears at the sudden loud noise.

"Warning: intruder alert." The alarm bellowed.

"Where? How in the world did they manage to get in?" The Commander gasped out as he fiddled with the remote and switched the screen to show the building's CCTV. "Impossible." He whispered as a familiar dark mist appeared in the jail cell sections.

Dark Sonic seemed be aware that he was being watched as he turned around, his white eyes staring straight at the camera; straight at the Commander. He waved cockily, smirking before he easily ripped the first jail cell door open as if it was merely a thin piece of paper.

The Commander clenched his teeth in anger as he punched buttons on his communicator. "Attention soldiers: Dark Sonic is in the prison cells. Prepare to attack, I repeat, prepare to attack." He then looked up at Shadow and Rouge. "You know what to do."

They both nodded and ran out of the room. Shadow skated along the corridors down towards the prison cells. Rouge flew above him as he pushed passed soldiers who were moving much slower than him, scrambling about in confusion as they tried to make sense of what was going on. Apart from the Black Arms and Doctor Eggman, no one else had managed to break into GUN's base.

"What do you think he wants?" Rouge shouted through cupped hands so Shadow could hear her over the loud shriek of the alarm.

"I don't know." He called back. "But we're about to find out."

He spin dashed through the prison cell entrance, the place where some of the worst criminals were sent where a closer eye could be kept on them before the majority of them were executed. Shadow's red eyes scanned the long wide room, full of many tightly secure prison cells made of the most powerful metal alloys. Many of the security guards were on the ground. Whether they were dead or simply passed out, Shadow couldn't tell. He could see Dark Sonic a few yards ahead of him, completely ignoring his presence as he walked through one of the close jail cell doors.

"He can walk through walls?!" Rouge shrieked in fear.

Shadow wasn't too surprised. He knew having all seven chaos emeralds pretty much allowed the user to accomplish anything. Dark Sonic must be utilising their full potential.

Shadow ran towards the area Dark Sonic had vanished and over the blaring of the alarm, his ear twitched at the sound of screaming inside the cell. Soldiers ran in behind Shadow, taking their positions and ready to back Shadow up. Shadow paid them no attention, knowing that anything they did would be useless.

Rouge hung back slightly as Shadow typed in the code for the cell and the doors slowly opened. Dark Sonic was leaning over the criminal with a murderous expression. The human he held by the scruff of his collar was staring up at Dark Sonic with fear as blood dripped down his body.

"Do you know where he is?!" Dark Sonic hissed at the criminal. The criminal was whimpering and shaking in fright and his hands tightly clasped Dark Sonic's wrists, trying to push him off.

"ANSWER ME!" Dark Sonic snarled out, his powerful voice bouncing off the walls of the cell and making everyone shudder. The soldiers aimed their guns at Dark Sonic, preparing to shoot, but Shadow gestured for them to wait, hoping that Dark Sonic may reveal some of his intentions.

"I-I don't know." The criminal managed to squeak out.

Dark Sonic sighed in frustration before he grabbed the criminal by his dark hair and began slamming his head repeatedly against the wall. The criminal let out a strangled gurgling sound as blood dribbled from his mouth. The sickening crack of his skull breaking echoed in the small jail cell and in the minds of the spectators. The criminal's head had been smashed into an unrecognisable red mush on the metal floor of the jail cell and Dark Sonic remained standing in the pool of blood, seemingly unaffected by what he had just done. He stared at Shadow with a fierce expression.

"Never knew killing was your style." Shadow noted, folding his arms across his chest, showing he was unintimidated.

"The scum was on death row anyway. I just sped up the process." Dark Sonic replied coldly with a slight smile.

Shadow merely chuckled. "You're acting like a child who can't get their own way. I can tell you're new to having this amount of power. Unlike me, you never had the guts to use it."

"I wouldn't piss me off if I were you Shadow." Dark Sonic smirked.

"You're insane!" Rouge cried out from behind the soldiers. "Just change back Sonic, you've done enough damage."

"Why would I change back from this?" Dark Sonic purred. "I've never felt so powerful and now I know what I have to do."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. At last they were getting somewhere. "And what do you have to do?"

Dark Sonic bared his teeth at Shadow like a wild animal. "Why should I tell someone like you? Someone who betrayed me!"

"What are you talking about?" Shadow demanded in confusion. Sonic really had gone insane.

"Oh, I think you know." Dark Sonic's smile widened.

"Sonic, please just stop this!" Rouge begged, stepping forward. Dark Sonic ignored her so she resorted to drastic measures. "Think of Amy."

Dark Sonic's smile abruptly faded away.

"Does her memory really mean so little to you?" Rouge snapped at him.

Dark Sonic continued to stare at her, his mouth pressed in a tight thin line before he burst out laughing. Everyone exchanged glances before staring back at the laughing demon in front of them. His laughing cut to stop and in a sudden switch in mood, he glared at Rouge in warning.

"Don't mention her name if you value your life." His voice was snake-like and filled with venom, like he was about to strike at any wrong move.

"Amy Amy Amy." Shadow mocked. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

Dark Sonic growled and was in front of Shadow in the blink of an eye with a hand clasped tightly around the black hedgehog's throat.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you." Dark Sonic snarled up at Shadow.

The soldiers began firing at Dark Sonic which distracted him for just the right amount of time for Shadow to kick Dark Sonic in the face with all the strength he could muster up. Dark Sonic let go in surprise at Shadow's sheer display of strength and Shadow quickly skated away, hoping to lead Dark Sonic away from everyone where he could do no harm.

"Remember how we would race?" Shadow teased. "Let's see what you've got now then."

Dark Sonic's competitive nature kicked in as he turned his attention away from the shooting GUN soldiers and back to Shadow who was running away from him at high speeds. He gave chase and Shadow smirked. Dark Sonic easily caught up, floating along the ground rather than running and quickly pounced on Shadow. He punched Shadow so hard that he flew back into the metal wall and broke through it. Shadow wiped the blood from his nose and quickly got back on his feet, not willing to be taken down to easily.

"Is that all you've got?" Shadow mocked, getting into a fighting stance, ignoring the pain.

Dark Sonic's empty white eyes stared back at him before he abruptly stared up into the air. His ear twitched as if he'd heard something that Shadow hadn't and he stared at Dark Sonic in confusion. Dark Sonic then looked back down at Shadow and smirked at him.

"I'll deal with you later, but right now I have somewhere I need to be." Dark Sonic let out an excited chuckle before disappearing faster than anyone could blink.

Rouge ran over to Shadow, her high heels clicking against the metal floor as she stared at him with worried eyes.

"Are you ok?" Her voice was full of concern. "It looked like he gave you quite the beating."

"I'm fine." Shadow replied gruffly. The only thing that felt hurt was his pride.

"Why did he back away from the fight?" Rouge questioned as they began walking back.

"He said he had somewhere to be." Shadow repeated Dark Sonic's words, feeling just as confused as Rouge sounded. "We have to find out what he's doing. The Commander was right though, he's definitely looking for something." He added, thinking back to the conversation with the Commander.

They stopped outside the jail cell that he had broken in to. They gazed in at the bloody mess, but Rouge could only take so much before she lowered her eyes.

Shadow sighed in frustration before turning his back on the mangled corpse. It looked like Dark Sonic had now indeed resulted to killing.

He stormed passed the GUN soldiers. "Keep this place more heavily guarded. Any unusual activity is to be reported to me straight away. If you encounter Dark Sonic, don't approach him, just observe everything he does."

The soldiers saluted to him. Shadow turned back to stare at the jail cell before turning back around and walking out. "And somebody get a mop."

.

_Amy…_

_Amy please wake up…just wake up…_

_We all miss you…_

_Amy please…_

.

Voices. _I must follow the voices. I know those voices. Cream. _

Amy jolted awake and sat bolt upright, the wires and tubes attached to her body were pulled forward and the bright lights blinded her. Her ears rang and her head felt incredibly dizzy as the world began to spin around her. She fell backwards onto what felt like a bed, the soft pillow cushioning her fall and she pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, hoping to relieve the sudden unexpected head rush.

"AMY!" She heard a young female voice scream in panic and shock next to her. "NURSE! DOCTOR! TAILS! ANYBODY!"

"Uhhh!" Amy groaned as Cream's voice rang through her head. "Cream, please keep it down." Her voice cracked as it felt like it hadn't been used in a while. Her throat felt like sand paper and every movement made her body ache as it switched back on.

Cream burst into tears next to her and she felt her friend's arms drape over her body as gently as she could.

"Is it really you?" Cream sobbed into her stomach.

"Erm…yeah?" Amy rasped out in confusion before coughing violently and tried to sit up again.

Tails and a doctor ran into the room, both freezing momentarily to gaze at her with astounded expressions. The doctor then ran over to her and checked all her readings before staring down at her in disbelief as if she had grown two heads. Amy turned away from him uncomfortably and looked at her friends who were also staring at her with the same expression.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Amy began panicking again and the beeping sound next to her increased.

"Y-You're at the hospital Amy." Tails explained as he collapsed down into the nearby chair.

"How much do you remember Amy?" The doctor asked her as she stared down at her arms with tube strapped into them. She felt another one tapped under her nose which gave her an uncomfortable feeling in the back of her throat.

"I-I don't know. I can't think straight right now." Amy whimpered.

The doctor's dark shiny eyes turned sympathetic. "Of course, don't worry, this is completely normal."

"What's normal?" Amy gasped out. "What happened to me?"

"Amy please calm down." Cream pleaded, staring at her pink friend as if she was about to suddenly die.

"But I don't understand." Amy coughed again as her voice cracked.

The doctor sighed. "Amy…you've been in a deep coma for just over a month."

No one said anything for a few moments as the news sank in with Amy. She stared down at her bed sheets in confusion. A coma? What? How? The last thing she remembered was…Eggman hitting the back of her head with something.

"He did this to me." Amy suddenly gasped out and the others leaned forward with interest.

"Who?" Tails asked.

"Eggman." Amy began to explain. "We were talking and then we were fighting and he hit me on the back of the head with something."

"So that's what happened." Tails mumbled as he clenched his fist in anger.

"You lost a lot of blood Amy. Your friends got you here just in time. We gave you a blood transfusion and stitched your head up but we weren't too sure on how much brain damage you had received. The chances of you surviving weren't high and you did die for a few minutes. But then, all of a sudden your heart just re-started and you fell into a coma. We didn't think you were ever going to wake up as your head injury was incredibly severe. You showed no sign of waking up anytime soon." He checked her readings again. "But now you seem to be the picture of health. Looks like you must have a guardian angel."

Amy's eyes were wide as she digested this information and her friends watched her carefully.

"I'll leave you three alone." The doctor said before making his way out of the room.

There was a period of awkward silence as no one knew what to say before Cream burst into another round of tears and flung herself at Amy again, clinging to her stomach as she sobbed into the sheets.

"Hey, it's ok Cream." Amy hushed her. "I'm awake now, aren't I?"

Tails sighed. "The doctors were talking about switching off your life support machine last week if you showed no signs of improvement. Cream has been visiting every day, talking to you, trying to help you wake up."

Amy stroked the back of Cream's head in comfort, touched that her friend had remained by her side. "Thank you Cream." Amy whispered as a single tear flowed out from the corner of her eye.

"It's good to have you back Amy." Tails beamed at her. "You've had a lot of people rooting for you." He gestured around the room at all of the colourful flowers and Amy gasped, kicking herself for not noticing.

"You guys." She gasped out as she fought to keep her tears back. "I can't believe I was asleep for over a month. I knew I wasn't a morning person, but that's ridiculous. Sorry that I worried you guys."

Tails stared at her with wide eyes. "Why are you sorry? Eggman's the one who attacked you."

Amy sighed. "I wish I could remember everything, but my memory is incredibly fuzzy."

Tails nodded in understanding. "Short term memory loss if normal. I'm sure it'll come back to you."

"I'm sure it will. Hey, where's Sonic?"

Both Cream and Tails froze at her question. They knew she was bound to ask it sooner or later. It was inevitable.

"He's…away right now." Tails bit his lip as he lied, choosing his words carefully. Well, it wasn't technically a lie.

"Away?"

"Err yeah. Battling Doctor Eggman." Tails gave her a nervous smile.

Amy's ears flattened in disappointment, feeling slightly upset that she wouldn't be able to see his face after a month of being asleep. She wondered if he was worried about her. Did he visit her? She felt incredibly out of the loop with everything. It looked like she had a whole months worth of catching up to do.

"Is he ok?"

"Oh yeah, he's fine." Tails said in a strained voice. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Cream shot him a dark look which Amy managed to catch.

"What are you two hiding from me?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Cream smiled at her. "I'm just so happy you're awake and well." Her arms tightened around her and Amy smiled down at her decided to forget about Tails' and Cream's strange behaviour.

For now.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	15. Broken Promises

**Wow guys, this story now has over 100 reviews! Thank you so much! I'm so happy that most of you are enjoying the story. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**15: Broken Promises**

_The large, bright, full moon was low in the sky with many of the stars that dotted the night sky being concealed by thick blankets of cloud. The area was dark and eerily quiet as Amy found herself walking up the stone steps leading up to the master emerald shrine as quietly as possible. No wildlife could be heard and her ears remained stiff as she listened out for anything threatening. She continued to stalk forward in an animalistic way as she crouched low, placing her finger tips down on the moss covered ancient architecture, crawling like a demonic creature to the top of the steps. _

_The glowing of the master emerald came into view, illuminating the surrounding area. She felt herself smile involuntarily as she could feel the power radiating off it. Now she just needed to get it out of here. Gently raising her arm, she leaned forward to touch the beautiful, mystical object before she was interrupted. _

"_What do you think you're doing here?!" A familiar voice yelled from behind before gasping as Amy felt herself turn to face him. "YOU?!"_

_._

"Amy? Amy!"

Amy felt herself being violently shook awake. Her eyes snapped open and she sat upright in bed, gazing around the hospital room until her eyesight locked with the worried brown eyes of Cream. She sighed with relief and yawned, rubbing her eyes as the dream began to disappear from her memory, but still couldn't shake off the intense feelings she had felt in it.

"Hey Cream." Amy smiled, still feeling a little sleepy. "What's up?"

"You were singing in your sleep." Cream replied a little nervously.

Amy's eyes widened. That was new.

"Singing?"

"Yeah, I didn't recognise the tune though and the lyrics were too quiet."

"Hmmm."

Before Amy could think any more of it, the doctor walked in with a bright smile on his face.

"Good news Amy!" He exclaimed. "You can go home today."

"Really?!" Amy and Cream both squealed in delight.

The doctor nodded. "Your injuries seem to have completely healed and you really have baffled us all Amy. Your rate of recovery has been extraordinary!"

"I keep telling you that you're special Amy." Cream hugged her friend tightly before releasing her as she realised something.

"I'll go and call Mother to tell her the news."

Cream merrily skipped out of the room and the doctor smiled down at Amy.

"You're really lucky to have a friend like her. She refused to leave your side even for a second." He explained.

Amy smiled proudly at the spot Cream had vanished in. "I know."

"Even though you have healed really quickly, I still recommend that you take it easy for the next few weeks." The doctor ordered seriously, pointing the end of his pen at her. "And if you begin experiencing any problems, no matter how trivial they seem, come straight back. You can never be too careful with head injuries."

"Yes doctor." Amy giggled before becoming serious as the doctor began to walk out of the room. "Doctor?" She called back to him, making him turn back around.

"Yes?"

"After head injuries and being in comas and all that, is it normal to have nightmares?" Amy asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

She hadn't told anyone, but since waking up from her coma, she kept having nightmares. They were often vivid, intense, but she could never fully remember them when she woke up. However, she would always jolt awake in a cold sweat and sometimes felt sick before recovering. She didn't know whether she was just being silly or not

"I wouldn't say it was unusual." The doctor reassured her. "You might just be experiencing some post-traumatic stress from having been attacked like you were. I can refer you for counselling if you want?"

"No no, it's fine. I'm sure it'll pass. Maybe I'm just stressed?"

"Perhaps." The doctor smiled at her reassuringly. "But if you need anything, then don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't." Amy sighed before smiling. "Thanks for everything doctor."

The doctor waved a hand at her dismissively. "All part of the job. I don't do it for the thank yous."

Amy relaxed back into her sheets as the doctor left the room and awaited Cream's return, possibly with Tails alongside her who might be picking them up. The TV had been left in the room from the previous night where Amy and Cream had spent most of their time watching movies. She picked up the remote from her nightstand and flicked it onto the news, hoping to catch up on everything that she had missed this past month.

Sonic suddenly entered her thoughts and Amy sighed at the fact that he had never come to visit her. All Tails had told her was that they had found her unconscious in Eggman's base. So far it didn't look like they knew about her double agent work and she wondered how far Shadow and Rouge had got in the mission. No one had told her much and it was frustrating her. She'd often been too tired to argue with them though, often yielding to Cream's distractions of movies and magazine reading, whilst at night when Cream had to leave, she tried to regain her lost memories. Nothing so far. Everything after Eggman hit her on the head was a huge fuzzy blur. She knew there was something there. Something important.

Sighing and shaking her head, Amy turned her attention back towards the TV, hoping to distract herself from her frustrating amnesia and ignorance. The words 'breaking news' flashed on the screen and Amy paid close attention at how seriously the anchor was now looking as the human pressed a finger against his earphone, listening intently at whatever he was being told.

"Ladies and gentlemen, news just in has revealed that Dark Sonic is currently attacking Westopolis. All GUN troops have been deployed and citizens have been urged to stay in their homes."

Amy choked on her own gasp and nearly fell out of bed at what she was seeing on the screen. A helicopter shot revealed a small dark creature hovering above the skyline of the city before zooming down to the streets below. The creature look an awful lot like…Sonic. And didn't the news reader just call the creature…_Dark Sonic? _What was this? Some kind of sick joke?

Attacking the city? Sonic would never do a thing like that! It couldn't be him. Even though there was clearly a likeness between them, this creature's quills were stuck up and he was a lot darker in colour than Sonic was. Had they mistaken someone else for Sonic again? Was someone out committing crimes again and the media was blaming Sonic?

A light gasp behind her made Amy jump and her head snapped around to meet the shocked and horrified gaze of Cream as she stared at the TV.

Amy laughed nervously. "Do you see this Cream? This has to be some kind of joke."

Cream shot Amy a sympathetic look before closing her eyes, visibly upset.

"Right?" Amy squeaked out, desperately trying to cling onto her theory. A lump formed in her throat as Cream refused to answer of even meet her eyes. This couldn't be true. No.

Amy pulled at her quills in stress before jumping out of bed, ignoring the sudden rush of blood to her head. She grabbed Cream by the shoulders and shook her slightly in agitation until Cream opened her eyes.

"Cream, please tell me what's going on. This all just has to be some sick joke." Amy pleaded, her voice cracking with fear.

"Amy, I think you need to have a small talk with Tails."

.

Amy couldn't shake the absolute feeling of dread as she was led out of the hospital. Tails had grabbed her by the arm, leading her away while Cream walked next to them, shaking slightly as her eyes darted around.

"Will someone please say something?" Amy begged, not being able to take their enigmatic behaviour anymore.

"Sssh!" Tails shushed her quickly as he led them towards the Tornado. "We can't take our chances and have him find you." He added in a firm whisper and Amy's eyes widened in alarm. Who were they talking about? Sonic? Surely not.

Tails helped Amy onto the wing of the plane where she proceeded to climb into her seat without argument. Cream followed her, flying up and settling behind her as Tails started the engine. He briefly looked around before taking off. The plane ride was spent in silence as Amy felt her hands begin to shake and a sick feeling entered her stomach. She knew she wasn't going to like whatever Tails had to say to her.

"Where's your mom, Cream?" Tails asked as the engine noise died down after they landed.

"She's out shopping Mr Tails." Cream replied as she hopped out.

"So that gives us plenty of time to explain things." Tails sighed sadly as he and Amy both climbed out. "Amy, you'll be staying with Cream and Vanilla for a while so they can keep an eye on you."

"I'm not a baby you know." Amy growled out, taking offense. "I can take care of myself."

"Yes, but you heard what the doctor said." Tails remained calm, gesturing for her to follow him inside.

Amy sighed and followed Tails and Cream into the house. It was dark and quiet inside and they all sat together in the dimly lit living room before Amy broke the silence.

"Ok, so now can you tell me what's going on?" She demanded.

"I guess I should start from the beginning." Tails sighed, looking tired and much older than his actual age. Amy couldn't help but notice how stressed and tired he was looking. She hadn't really picked up on it before, but as he sat next to the floral lamp, she could see just how dark the circles were under his eyes.

"Sonic found the letter from Eggman in your house." He began.

"What letter?" Amy immediately interrupted him before she gasped. "You know that I was working as a double agent?"

Tails nodded. "Shadow explained everything to us after we took you to hospital."

"But Eggman and I never communicated through letters…it was always by phone." Then it hit her. "He set me up!"

"It would appear so. Eggman seemed to have outsmarted all of us with this one." Tails explained. "Sonic found it and it convinced him that you were in fact were for Eggman to get revenge on him. He followed the letter's instructions to Emerald Hill where he saw you and Eggman talking and then left to see me. He explained what he saw to me and then took off to go find Eggman at his base. He also seemed pretty convinced that it was Shadow who was forcing you to work for Eggman."

"Shadow?" Amy asked in confusion.

Tails shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me. He seems to have a personal vendetta against Shadow lately. Anyway, I brought Knuckles and Blaze along with me to try and help Sonic out. It turned out the whole thing was trap and Eggman captured us all. It seems that you had also managed to activate your emergency signal as Shadow also came to help. Little did we know that Eggman was counting on you doing that, so Shadow arrived with the exact thing that Eggman needed. The final chaos emerald. He placed it in this weapon he had created and he shot it at Sonic."

Amy whimpered as tears formed in her eyes, threatening to spill over. What had she done?

Tails continued. "Then it just happened. He changed. He suddenly turned into this powerful creature. He freed us from the robots and tried to attack Eggman until the GUN soldiers arrived, distracting him long enough for Eggman to get away. Then Dark Sonic just left without any explanation and then we went to go and look for you. We finally found you in a prison cell, but when we got there, Dark Sonic was leaning over you. We thought he was trying to kill you and as soon as he saw us, he vanished."

Amy hid her face in her hands as she could hear her heartbeat and feel it jumping about erratically in her chest. She didn't know if she wanted to hear anymore of Tails' explanation. Sonic. Her Sonic had tried to kill her. Maybe she deserved it. After all, she was the one who had created this mess. She was the real evil creature in this situation.

"He's been on a rampage ever since." Tails' voice began to shake as he thought about his best friend. "The whole planet is in chaos. Many people are afraid to leave their homes and Eggman has gone missing. GUN are doing everything they can, but Dark Sonic is just too powerful."

Without warning, Amy suddenly collapsed.

She slouched in the armchair, her head slumped against the right arm, her eyes closed and her breathing slightly laboured as Cream cried out and ran over to her.

"Amy!" Cream tried to shake her, but Tails' voice stopped her.

"Don't Cream, just let her mind cope. It was a lot to take in."

Cream began crying as she hugged Amy's limp, unconscious body. "Why is this all happening? Why did Eggman have to do all this? I just want things to go back to normal."

Tails stared out of the window at the dark sky, wondering what Dark Sonic was doing right now. At that exact moment there was a knock on the door and both Tails and Cream froze.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Tails asked nervously.

Cream shook her head, her eyes wide in fright. "No. Could it be Dark Sonic?"

"I highly doubt an all-powerful being would simply knock on the door." Tails chuckled, but he wasn't sure if he was trying to calm Cream down or himself.

Tails got up off the couch and made his way towards the front door and was about to open the door with a shaky hand until the person behind it forced it open, almost pulling it off its hinges. The black hedgehog stormed inside, slamming the door behind him and made his way into the living room.

"Come on in Shadow." Tails grumbled sarcastically as he followed him in and sat back down again.

"You were taking too long to answer the door." Shadow huffed in reply, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow at Amy who was still passed out on the chair. "She's out of hospital already?"

"Yes Mr Shadow." Cream answered, wiping her eyes. "She healed really quickly, isn't that incredible?"

"Hmmm, I thought she'd never wake up." Shadow mumbled before getting to the point. "However this is no ridiculous social visit. I'm here on business."

"What is it?" Tails asked wondering what the ultimate life form could possibly want from them.

"I've been assigned the operation of catching Dark Sonic."

Tails rolled his eyes and resting his head on his elbows. "Good luck with that." He muttered bitterly. "Dark Sonic seems to be composed of negative chaos energy. You have no chance."

"Mr Tails!" Cream scolded. "I know you miss Mr Sonic, but there is no need to be rude. Mr Shadow is a guest."

"No the fox makes a valid point." Shadow grumbled. "Unfortunately it seems my efforts alone will not be sufficient. That's why I've come to enlist your help."

"My help?" Tails asked in disbelief and Shadow nodded. "Well don't look at me, I don't have any ideas."

"You're closer to Sonic than anyone and you've studied his super forms. Surely there must be a way to stop him?"

Tails shrugged. "Yeah, well I'm open to ideas."

"You honestly have nothing?" Shadow asked, a slightly hint of shock evident on his normally hard and cold features.

"Look Shadow I just don't know ok?!" Tails unexpectedly exploded. "In case you've forgotten, my best friend has been turned into a psycho, Amy nearly died and the planet is in a state of terror. I have no room to think right now so just leave me alone!"

"I honestly expected a better reaction out of you." Shadow shook his head in disappointment as Tails continued to glare down at the light carpeted floor.

"Mr Tails, if anyone can think of a way to stop him, it's you." Cream encouraged.

Tails ran a hand over his face. "Look, he seems invulnerable to all measures of attacks. He has the negative power of all seven chaos emeralds flowing through his body. He's invincible and the Sonic we knew and loved is dead." He choked on the last part.

A sudden groan caught their attention and they all looked over to Amy who was slowly coming around. She managed to push herself upright and she stared around the room before her eyes settled on Shadow. Her green eyes seemed to suddenly catch fire like burning copper before she charged towards Shadow. She clasped her hands around his throat and clenched them hard, choking him, but Shadow refused to fight back.

"YOU!" She screamed.

Cream screamed in terror at Amy's sudden aggressive behaviour whilst Tails watched in a state of complete shock.

"YOU PROMISED ME! YOU PROMISED THAT IF ANYTHING HAPPENED THAT YOU WOULD KEEP HIM SAFE!" Amy shrieked at him before Shadow easily pried her hands from around his neck. Amy settled for punching him instead, but her efforts made very little impact as Shadow simply stood there and let her get it out of her system as he stood motionless.

"You promised…" Amy whimpered before her knees gave out beneath her and she collapsed into a kneeling position on the ground and sobbed into her hands.

Shadow let out a sigh. "And I'm still going to keep that promise." He said determinedly before turning back to Tails. "Just think about what I said."

Shadow then left without another word and all that could be heard was Amy's sobbing.

"Come on Amy, I'll take you to your room." Cream offered as she helped Amy off the floor and half carried her up the stairs and towards the guest bedroom.

Amy followed Cream inside and collapsed down on the bed and stared up at the whitewashed ceiling as tears continued to pour out of her eyes.

"I'll give you some space if you'd like." Cream offered, but Amy didn't reply. Cream sighed at Amy's lack of response and decided that it would be best to leave the pink hedgehog in peace to cope with what had just happened.

Amy didn't even noticed that her best friend had left the room as she curled into a tight ball, hoping to soothe all of the pain that was shooting through her body. The guilt felt like it was slowly gnawing at her insides at what she had done to the person she loved more than anything in the world. She was the cause of this.

So caught up in her own selfishness. When Shadow had offered her the job, it was not the fact that Eggman could finally be brought to justice that had made her say yes; it was the idea that Sonic might finally fall for her. Well now she was paying the price. This was karma. Sonic had got hurt and it was all because of her. She had been careless, stupid and selfish and it had caused nothing but trouble.

Her mind wandered to the Sonic she had seen on the news. The dark power that radiated off him as he hovered over the city like a dark angel. He seemed so enchanting yet so deadly. The negative power of the chaos emeralds had been forced into his system and the Sonic she had fallen in love with was lost forever. If Tails couldn't think of a way to get him back, did that mean he was stuck like this forever? Amy didn't know if she could bear a lifetime of that. She could barely live with herself now as she thought about what she had done to him.

A now clear memory flooded her mind, of herself lying in a pool of her own blood and the cold touch of his fingers against her head. Cold like a corpse. That's because Sonic was probably dead. Amy felt her heart shatter into a million pieces at the thought. The real Sonic had been replaced by a vile creature who sought death and destruction. This seemed to officially be the end.

It was unknown to Amy how long she had been lying there. Minutes. Hours. Years. In her state, she lost all concept of time as she remained in her tight ball, in the hopes that she could shield herself from the world. She wanted all the pain to go away. So much pain.

"Amy?" A high pitched voice whispered as the wooden door Amy had her back to creaked open. "You've been in here all day, are you feeling any better?" Cream asked as she stepped into the room.

Amy was sat up now, staring blankly at the wall, her knees tucked under into her chest as she rested her chin on top of her tightly folded arms. Her jade green eyes had lost all their happy light and her face had lost all sign of life.

Cream shook her shoulder gently, worrying about the state of her friend.

"Amy?"

No response. Cream shook her again.

"Amy, please answer me." She begged. "Amy you need to come downstairs and eat something. It's not good for you to be shut up here for hours on end."

Amy remained unresponsive and Cream finally gave up and let go of her shoulder. "Fine, I'll let you stay up here, but I'll bring you some food up ok?"

Amy gave her one weak nod and Cream sighed with relief once she realised that she hadn't gone completely catatonic and silently left the room, leaving Amy alone again.

.

The tight air vent that Rouge had manage to squeeze into creaked slightly as she moved along it. There was frequent whispering amongst the GUN soldiers causing Rouge to become suspicious. There was currently a meeting going on between the Commander and his lieutenant and Rouge was keen to find out what they could possibly be talking about. Her gut feeling was kicking in and she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd had a good nosey at what was going on. After all, she was a spy.

Her high sensitive hearing kicked in as she heard the Commander's voice below her. There was a tiny gap in the air vent where cool air was passing through, allowing her a limited view of the Commander and Lieutenant. They both seemed to be stood up and having a very intense conversation. She could only see the back of the Commander's head, his grey hair shining in the light while the Lieutenant's thick dark purple hair hid most of his face.

"These beings can no longer be trusted sir." The Lieutenant implored. "First Sonic, who next?"

"Explain this sudden theory." The Commander ordered.

"The anthropomorphic creatures all possess great powers that we humans cannot. The chaos emeralds have the potential to make them all stronger and what's to say that we won't have another Dark Sonic case? The threat is too profound to ignore. We must act now. Strike them before they strike us." The Lieutenant explained with worry in his voice. "Dark Sonic may make them realise how much more powerful they are than us and they'll take over!"

Rouge gasped at the nerve of the Lieutenant to make such remarks.

"About a handful of our own staff aren't even human." The Commander replied. "We've managed to live in harmony for thousands of years; why the sudden worry?"

"Because it's only now their true potential is being realised." The Lieutenant sighed. "And if we don't act now, it'll be too late sir. Sure we might capture and kill Dark Sonic, but who's to say that they all won't rise up. With their powers, they'll easily outmatch us."

"Do you have any idea what you're suggesting?" The Commander hissed. "This may create full scale war!"

"I believe we're already at war, sir."

The Lieutenant pointed at the TV screen showing the destruction that Dark Sonic had caused in the streets of Westopolis. Buildings had been smashed and fire bathed the area in a hellish red glow. People stumbled about in confusion as they had been left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Rouge's eyes widened as the Commander was left speechless.

_This couldn't be good._

* * *

**Ok, now I'm really beginning to think that this story should be rated M. Let me know what you think. **


	16. The Madness Begins

**Thanks for the awesome reviews guys. The feedback is always much appreciated. **

**A lot of you have said this story should be rated M now so there ya go. Now its M rated. This story might not be too extreme…? Maybe. I dunno. But I thought I better rate it M just in case. So expect some moderate/strong violence, some mild language and dark themes. No lemon though, sorry. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**16: The Madness Begins**

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon as Rouge flew across the pink and orange sky. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the world seemed to be at peace once again – in blissful ignorance of what Rouge had just heard at GUN headquarters. Maybe it was just the calm before the storm. The last moments of tranquillity before complete and utter devastation occurred as people divided and took stances on the current situation.

Angel Island came into view, floating over the dark ocean that the rising sun had yet to touch. This wasn't Rouge's typical visit though. Not to try and steal the master emerald nor tease its guardian. Contact with Shadow had been lost and Rouge was now turning to the first person she could think of. Unsure of why he always popped into her head, she continued flying gracefully through the air, her black wings flapping every once in a while before tucking them into her back as she dived down towards the large stone shrine.

"Knuckles, I need to –" Rouge gasped before she could finish her sentence. Her heels clicked on the ancient stones as she landed, freezing in shock as her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

"Knuckles!" She screamed in horror, forcing herself to unfreeze. Running over to him, she collapsed next to his broken body, her hands waving over him in a frightfully unsure manner. She feared any further touch would injure him further.

The red echidna was lying in a dark pool of his own blood, some of it still moist and some of it beginning to dry, indicating that he had been this way for a while. His right leg appeared to be twisted, seeming like the bone had been ripped right out of the knee joint and was now lying limply in an unnatural angle. There were deep cuts covering his body that glistened in the morning sun and his white gloves were stained a dark red.

"Knuckles? Knuckles, can you hear me?" Rouge begged for a response in panic. Who had attacked him and why? Rouge's blue eyes darted across the landscape. Many of the stones surrounding the shrine had been cracked or shattered completely like someone had been slammed into them. One of the pillars appeared to have been knocked down and had rolled down to the bottom of the shrine where it had slammed into some of the trees and caused them to fall down. The white bat gasped once again when she realised that the master emerald was missing. Could it have been Dark Sonic that did all this?

"Please wake up!" Rouge tried to place a hand on his shoulder, but everywhere seemed to be covered in cuts and bruises and she didn't want to cause him anymore pain. But she needed to get him out of here. She needed to get help. And fast.

.

"_Sightings of Dark Sonic are becoming widespread as the once world renowned hero continues to cause destruction across the planet. Many people who have been reported missing are now being found dead in horrific conditions. GUN are now refusing to release statements on the issue and it's now unclear how they plan to handle this problem and we have been unable to contact any of Sonic's close friends. The President has urged that people should avoid trying to reach loved ones and should remain in their homes to avoid – "_

Tails slammed his thumb down on the standby button of the TV remote and threw it to the other side of the couch. He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands, unable to shake the images from the news of his best friend causing so much destruction. Not only that, but he was now a murderer. The situation just kept getting worse. Tails just didn't know what to do anymore for the best. How could they stop Sonic without killing him? What was Dark Sonic planning to do? Was he just causing all of this mess for the fun of it? That hypothesis didn't seem likely to Tails because it did indeed appear that he was looking for something.

What if Dark Sonic was killed though? Tails sank lower into the cushions at the mere thought as his heart ached at the thought of his first and closest friend being killed. Yet, what if it was for the best? What if the true Sonic was beyond saving? Gone forever? Tails tried to fight back tears at the thought. But if this was just like his super state, then wasn't Dark Sonic just the Sonic they did actually know? Tails had never seen this side of his friend before and the way that Eggman was tormenting him when he used the weapon against Sonic, could that have brought out the evil in him? The fox knew that there was good and evil in everyone whether they wanted to admit it or not and sometimes people gravitated more towards the other. Was the negative chaos energy causing Sonic to gravitate towards evil? But that still didn't make any sense. Dark Sonic had refused to kill them at Eggman's base. What made even less sense was that afterwards, Dark Sonic had tried to kill Amy. Why would he spare them, but kill Amy? Unless he was still under the impression that Amy was working for Eggman. But that still didn't make any sense because Sonic seemed devastated when Eggman had revealed that he had harmed her.

Tails groaned as he felt a headache coming on. Nothing made sense anymore. What was even the point of trying to understand Dark Sonic's actions anyway? He knew there was no way they could beat him because after all, he was _Sonic_. A very powerful creature on his own merit, even without the aid of all seven chaos emeralds. Now, Sonic appeared to have no moral compass which made him even more formidable. Besides, even if he was evil…Tails didn't know if he had it in him to kill his best friend.

Thinking about those glowing white eyes made Tails shudder and he quickly shot upright in his seat and tried to banish all thoughts of Dark Sonic from his mind. Luckily, he was distracted as Cream entered the room looking quite sullen.

"What's up Cream?" Tails asked, his voice coated with concern. "Is Amy ok?"

Cream sighed. "I'm worried about her."

"Is she still acting weird?"

Cream nodded. "It's like…she's not all there. I understand that she feels bad and blames herself for what happened, but if she would just talk to one of us then maybe she could get it out of her system."

"It's not her fault." Tails tugged at his gloves stressfully. "None of this is her fault and she's silly to think so."

"I know, but I feel like it's more than that."

"What do you mean?"

Cream looked like she was fighting back tears as she finally took a seat on the couch opposite Tails and clung to the cushion like it was a lifeline. "I think she's sick Tails."

"How so?" He hadn't seen Amy properly since she came out of hospital two days ago. Since telling her the news, she'd shut herself away in her room and refused to come out. Cream and Vanilla had to force her to eat and Tails stayed well out of the way so as not to stress Amy out further.

"She's just so cold and pale." Cream whimpered. "She's refusing to eat and I caught her singing to herself again earlier."

"What was she singing?"

"Something about the seven chaos emeralds, that's all I could pick up." Cream explained.

Tails sighed feeling completely useless. "I suppose she's just stressed. Give her time and I'm sure she'll come round."

"Do you think so?" Cream asked hopefully.

Tails couldn't give her an honest answer. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to tell her the truth either. He had lost all hope.

Vanilla walked into the room and placed a sympathetic hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I'm sure she'll get better, Cream. Amy has had a nasty shock. I've managed to get her to sleep right now and she might feel a little better after some much needed rest."

"Thank you mother."

A sudden, loud and quick knock on the door caught their attention and all three of them froze. The knock sounded again, only this time more aggressive.

"Stay here." Tails instructed as Cream nodded and clung to her mother's hand.

Tails slowly made his way over to the front door, trying to peer out of the living room window as he moved towards it, hoping to catch a glimpse of who was outside. The impatient knocking sounded again and Tails gulped before he unlocked the front door and opened it.

"Tails, thank god, there's no one else I can trust." Rouge choked out as she dragged the unconscious body of Knuckles inside.

"Rouge? What's going on?" Tails asked in fear as he moved aside to let them pass. He briefly looked around outside in case they were being watched before he quickly slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Oh my goodness!" Vanilla gasped as she covered Cream's eyes, preventing her from seeing the state Knuckles was in. "Cream honey, why don't you go to your room, while I help Mr Knuckles?"

Cream left without argument and Vanilla quickly made her way over and helped Rouge carry the injured echidna to the couch where they gently laid him down. His blood stained the light pink coloured fabric, but Vanilla didn't seem to mind.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't know who else to turn to." Rouge breathed laboriously, a blood stained hand placed on her chest as her eyes were swimming with worry at the sight of Knuckles.

"What happened?" Tails gasped out as he immediately began helping Vanilla check him over.

"I don't know! I just found him like that!" Rouge cried out. "I think Dark Sonic must have attacked him and stolen the master emerald."

"Why didn't you take him to the nearest hospital?" Tails demanded in confusion as Vanilla assessed his twisted leg with a look of horror on her face.

"Like I said, I can't trust anyone right now." Rouge explained hysterically.

Tails glared at her suspiciously as Vanilla ran into the kitchen before coming back with a first aid kit.

"I may be able to help sterilise his cuts, but there's nothing I can do about his leg without a proper doctor."

She immediately went to work and Tails continued to assess Rouge; she wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person on the planet and had a long history of double crossing. Rouge glared back noticing that Tails didn't seem content with her reasons.

"What's going on Rouge?"

"Civil war, that's what!" Rouge spat.

"Huh?"

"Oh come on fox boy, you're supposed to be the smart one!" Rouge snapped. "GUN have now stopped giving out information about what they're planning to do next, now why could that possibly be?"

"Because what they're planning to do with Dark Sonic is unorthodox?" Tails guessed. The government usually did resort to keeping secrets in case the public rose up against them. It seemed to be the obvious answer.

Rouge sighed. "Not just to Dark Sonic…to our whole species."

"What?" Tails gazed at her in confusion.

"Don't you see?" Rouge questioned. "With Dark Sonic's power, GUN are beginning to question how powerful we all truly are. They believe that Dark Sonic is going to cause us all to rise against them and last time I heard, they were planning to strike us before we strike them."

"But we haven't done anything! We're just as much threatened by Dark Sonic as the humans are!"

"Well that's not how they see it." Rouge shook her head. "The humans at GUN are scared and they're resorting to drastic measures; stupid and drastic measures. That's why we can't trust anyone anymore. At any time, they could attack us and if we fight back, they'll believe that they were right to fear us. Our best bet now is to hide and lay low. Out of everyone, GUN will come after Sonic's friends first."

Tails gripped the back of the couch tightly as he processed what Rouge was telling him. Were GUN really that stupid? Why in the world would they rise up against GUN? They wanted the Dark Sonic problem to go away as much as they did. Were they forgetting that before Dark Sonic, the biggest threat to the world was Eggman? He was a super genius and human, yet they didn't stereotype all humans to be evil creatures who wanted world domination. Why were they having it done to them?

Tails' thoughts were interrupted by Vanilla's urgent voice.

"Tails, we really need to call a doctor to tend to his leg, otherwise it might never heal properly." She explained and Tails nodded in agreement.

"But it's too dangerous!" Rouge protested.

"I'd rather take our chances than risk making Knuckles' injuries any worse!" Tails argued back. "We'll call Doctor Wise; he was the one who looked after Amy. We can trust him."

Rouge sighed and relented as Tails picked up the phone and dialled his number.

.

The evening was approaching fast and Tails, Rouge, Cream and Vanilla were all waiting, sitting around the kitchen table as the doctor helped Knuckles.

"Do you think Mr Knuckles will be ok?" Cream asked, breaking the long silence.

"I'm sure he will be, Cream." Vanilla reassured her.

"Yeah, if Dark Sonic hasn't permanently damaged him." Rouge huffed in anger before turning her nose up in the air, unaffected by Vanilla's hard glare.

The door to the living room opened and the old looking owl walked out. All four of them stood up, staring at Doctor Wise, waiting for his thoughts.

"Knuckles was beat up pretty bad, but I don't think there will be any lasting damage." The doctor smiled reassuringly. "His cuts and bruises should heal fairly quickly, but his leg was in pretty bad shape. It had been dislocated and broken. I've managed to push it back into place and I've fitted a cast so now all we can do is wait."

"Is he awake?" Rouge demanded.

"He did come round for a few seconds, but then I gave him some pain medicine and it sent him back to sleep. He should be awake again in a few hours, but my advice is to let him rest." Doctor Wise explained.

Rouge had already dashed into the room before the doctor even had time to finish speaking, but he just sighed and made his way towards the front door.

"Just call me if you need anything else." Doctor Wise smiled in a friendly and kind way as Vanilla opened the door for him.

"Thank you so much for everything." She said before locking the door behind him.

Vanilla turned around to smile at Tails and Cream before she noticed Amy slowly making her way downstairs.

"Amy, dear, are you alright?" Vanilla asked as Amy yawned.

"Amy!" Cream squealed in delight, happy to see her friend moving about again. She ran towards the tired looking pink hedgehog and embraced her tightly. Amy remained motionless though, not returning the act. Cream noticed and backed away slightly, looking up at Amy with a mixture of confusion, worry and rejection.

"What's wrong?" Cream asked, worriedly.

"Nothing." Amy insisted. "I was just wondering what was going on." Her voice was flat and lifeless and the three of them stared at her with concern.

"Knuckles had an accident, but he'll be better soon." Cream answered as she held Amy's hands, trying to get a better reaction out of her.

"Hmmm." Was all the noise Amy made in acknowledgement as her whole body seemed to tremble slightly.

"Oh dear, you must be hungry." Vanilla noted. "I'll make you something."

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? I could make you anything. You need to eat Amy or –"

"I said I'm not hungry. Thank you." Amy sighed.

"Maybe later then?" Vanilla offered, but Amy just ignored her so Vanilla made her way back into the kitchen, followed by Tails, leaving the two girls alone.

Amy half sat down, half collapsed onto the stair case, quickly followed by Cream who sat timidly next to her, gazing at her friend as if she was a stranger.

"Do you want to do something fun?" Cream asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Amy's cold dead eyes continued to stare forward, her whole body shivering slightly so Cream linked her arm through Amy's. Amy still didn't react and Cream sighed not knowing what else to do.

"Amy, please just talk to me. I'm your best friend and we tell each other everything." Cream urged before lowering her voice slightly. "I know you blame yourself for what happened to Sonic. Please don't. It's not your fault. Nobody could've foreseen this. What matters now is how we help Sonic get back to normal and then everything will be ok again. I promise."

Cream threaded her fingers through Amy's, although had some difficulty doing so due to Amy's shivering.

"Not enough." Amy mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Not enough." Amy repeated quietly and Cream stared at her, waiting for her to say more. "Purge."

"Well, never mind that, let's do something fun." Cream suggested, standing up and trying to pull Amy up with her. Amy originally refused to budge, but after added strength, Cream finally managed to pull Amy up off the stairs.

"Maybe I could show you some of my drawings?" Cream offered and Amy didn't reply so Cream just took it as a 'yes'.

The young rabbit dragged Amy upstairs and into her brightly coloured room, helping Amy to sit down on the wooden floor before running over to her desk and picking up paper and coloured pens.

"I've already showed Blaze, but I never got the chance to show you." Cream said as she proudly showed Amy the drawings. Amy stared at the happy themed drawings of houses, parks and all their friends without saying a word.

"I miss Blaze and I hate that she lives in another dimension sometimes, but she had no choice but to go back. She couldn't stay away from the sol emeralds for long. She was worried that...well, you know." Cream sighed as Amy continued to remain unresponsive.

"Hey, maybe you could draw a picture?" Cream exclaimed excitedly. "I hear that it can be very helpful when your brain is sick."

She picked up the red pen and tried handing it to Amy. The pink hedgehog just stared at the floor, her eyes blinking rapidly and Cream began to start feeling a little fearful. She pressed on anyway, hoping to help Amy feel better again. Prying Amy's finger's open, Cream placed the pen in her hand and smiled when Amy's hand responded and held onto the pen. Amy looked down and stared at it thoughtfully whilst Cream watched, looking hopeful.

"Purge." Amy repeated the same word from before and began doodling on the wooden floorboards much to Cream's shock.

"Erm, Amy, there's paper right there. Mother is going to be really mad if you do that." Cream shuffled away slightly.

"No more. No more. No more."

"Errr yeah, no more drawing on my floor." Cream giggled nervously.

"Make it all go away." Amy sang as she continued drawing.

Cream peered down to see what Amy was drawing. A lot of it seemed to be random squiggles, but she could also make out a diamond shaped object and a gun.

"Ok Amy, that's enough." Cream said a bit more firmly as she grabbed the pen and tried to snatch it from Amy's hand. Amy fought back, clinging to it until Cream finally won the mini game of tug of war and glared at her friend.

"Amy please calm down and tell me what's wrong." Cream demanded more seriously this time. Something was definitely not right with her friend.

"Purge." Amy muttered. "Not healed yet. Must heal."

"Amy, please, you're scaring me." Cream begged as she tried hard not to cry and remain strong for her clearly ill friend.

Amy began crawling towards Cream's bedroom window for no apparent reason, stopping directly in front of it and sitting down with crossed legs, staring directly in front of her as if she was waiting patiently for something. She then shook her head erratically before crawling back over to Cream, staring at her dead in the eye.

"Help." She whispered so lowly that Cream could barely tell if she'd said anything at all. "So cold." She added in a slightly loudly whisper.

Cream's heartrate accelerated, watching in confused terror as her best friend behaved like a lunatic. What had gotten into her?

"Ok Amy, I think you need some more sleep." Cream suggested and helped Amy up off the floor. Amy clung onto Cream and let her drag her out of the room all the while she continued to gaze behind them out of the window.

"What is it?" Cream asked as she followed Amy's line of sight only to see the sun setting behind the canopy of the trees.

Amy's eyes remained fixated as Cream continued to drag her out of the room and towards Amy's bedroom door.

"Come on Amy." Cream said as she opened the door.

Amy turned around and looked inside the room before she let out an ear-piercing scream. Cream covered her ears and stepped back in fright before regaining her composure. Amy looked like she was about to run until Cream managed to grab hold of her. She thrashed in the young rabbit's arms, still trying to run away.

"No, you can't make me go in there!" Amy begged as Vanilla and Tails ran up the stairs to see what all the fuss was about.

"What's going on?" Tails demanded and his eyes widened as he took Amy's strange behaviour into account.

"I don't know." Cream sighed with relief when her mother took hold of the frightened looking Amy. "She's been acting weird for a while and now she's just suddenly started freaking out. I don't know what to do."

"Amy shhhh." Vanilla tried to comfort her as she embraced her tightly. "It's ok, what's scaring you sweetheart?"

Amy tried to push Vanilla away, refusing to calm down.

"Did she see something?" Tails asked.

"I don't know." Cream answered, close to tears.

Tails peered inside the bedroom; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He looked back at Amy who was still trying to fight her way out of Vanilla's grip. It definitely seemed like she was spooked by something. Was this what Cream meant by erratic behaviour? Amy's eyes were wide with fear and her whole complexion was pale. Her normal bright pink fur was now a dull, pale pink as if there was no life in her and her quills were raised up slightly in fear.

"No heal!" Amy yelled.

"She shouted something like that when she started drawing on my bedroom floor." Cream explained, her voice cracking with anguish as she observed her friend.

"What? Show me." Tails said as Vanilla pulled Amy into the bedroom.

"Come on dear, you'll feel much better once you've had some sleep."

Tails followed Cream into her bedroom and she pointed at the red markings on the floor. Tails tilted his head to one side as he kneeled down to inspect them. A lot of them were just lines and swirls, but he could make out a diamond – a chaos emerald perhaps – and a gun.

"What does it mean Mr Tails?" Cream sniffed.

"I don't know." Tails sighed as his ear twitched at Amy's continuous cries of fear.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	17. Blood On Your Hands

**Hey everyone and thank you for all of the reviews! **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**17: Blood On Your Hands**

"There you are." Shadow growled out as he stood with his arms folded. He and Dark Sonic were stood facing each other, metres apart on top of a high cliff in Green Hill as they glowered at one another. A morning spring storm was fast approaching from the distance, the thick cumulonimbus clouds towered high in the sky, blocking out the rays from the sunrise.

"Good morning, Shadow." Dark Sonic smiled in a menacing way. "You and GUN have been causing quite a bit of trouble for me. Then again, I suppose I should be used to it by now."

A quiet crackle of thunder could be heard in the distance as Shadow glared at Dark Sonic's cold, white, glowing eyes without flinching.

"Hmph, well maybe if you just switched back, there wouldn't be any need for me or GUN to come after you."

Dark Sonic merely threw his head back and laughed. The Dark mist continued to swirl around him like flames dancing in a fire as his white eyes once again locked with Shadow's as he stopped laughing.

"Like I said before, why would I want to give up this power?" Dark Sonic explained, smiling at the storm in the distance. "I've always been able to manipulate chaos energy, but you were completely right about me never having the guts to use it to its full potential before. All I was concerned with was defeating the bad guy and then running off for something new."

"I never had you down as a power hungry murderer, faker." Shadow muttered and Dark Sonic abruptly twisted back around and stared at Shadow with an unamused expression.

"But this isn't just about power." He hissed through clenched teeth as he curled his fists into tight balls by his side.

Shadow smirked as he hoped that Dark Sonic would finally admit his intentions. "Then what is it all about?"

Dark Sonic didn't answer as he remained frozen on the spot and Shadow sighed in frustration before decided to approach from a different angle.

"When we were fighting a few weeks ago at the base, you stopped and then retreated. Why?"

Dark Sonic finally shifted, turning his whole body to face Shadow.

"I had business to take care of."

"What kind of business?"

"Why should I have to explain myself to you? You, who led Amy astray, almost crashed the ARK into Earth, blew up half the moon and helped a band of alien terrorists. I think it's a little hypocritical of you to criticise what I have done." Dark Sonic's voice was cold and calculating as Shadow felt like his eyes could see right through him.

Shadow huffed. "Be that is it may, doing something wrong and then doing the right thing does not make someone a hypocrite. You've caused a lot of destruction and it needs to stop."

"Being philosophical just isn't your style, Shadow." Dark Sonic grinned.

Shadow ignored that comment. "But you're up to something and I want to know what it is. What about those friends of yours? Haven't you considered that they may disagree with what you are doing?"

Dark Sonic laughed again as lightening lit up the sky in the distance behind him. "My friends will be joining me soon enough, so I wouldn't worry about them if I were you. Everything's being taken care of and if they start doing anything to oppose me." He gently tapped the side of his head. "I'll know straight away."

"So you're, what, telepathic now?" Shadow unfolded his arms as his red eyes held nothing but hate for the creature in front of him. He'd gladly take faker over this thing any day, not that he was prepared to admit that out loud.

The small smirk on Dark Sonic's face broadened before he gazed off into the distance. "Not really, but something along those lines."

Shadow stood there in confusion as he couldn't understand what Dark Sonic was hinting at. As far as he knew, chaos emeralds didn't allow telepathy, but then again, the chaos emeralds held plenty of mysteries. Was Dark Sonic just bluffing when he said he'd immediately know? He seemed so certain, so confident that he had the upper hand.

"Of course it was an accident really." Dark Sonic sighed and Shadow's eyes widened slightly as Dark Sonic seemed to display a small hint of sadness. Was this a sign that Dark Sonic could switch back? Maybe Sonic was still in there deep down. There had to be a cure, there just had to be.

"An accident?" Shadow tried to keep him talking and bring out more of his emotions.

"Mmm." Dark Sonic mumbled before laughing manically. "A welcomed accident though."

Ok, so maybe there wasn't much hope there. Shadow huffed before tensing up as Dark Sonic took a step towards him.

"So, just try and oppose me." Dark Sonic challenged.

"Well, I'm going to do just that." Shadow growled out.

Dark Sonic growled back in a more animalistic way before he shot out a dark burst of energy, hitting Shadow painfully in the chest. Shadow groaned in pain as the force knocked him off the edge of the cliff and he plummeted down to the bottom. Pain erupted in his body as he impacted the ground and he opened his eyes to see Dark Sonic slowly floating down towards him, smiling.

"Look at you." Dark Sonic mocked. "Some ultimate lifeform." He tightly grabbed hold of one of Shadow's quills and slammed his head into the rocky ground. "Maybe I could give you amnesia again, huh? Would you like that?"

Shadow grabbed hold of Dark Sonic's arm and flipped him over his head. The loud boom from the ground could barely be heard over the loud rumbling thunder of the storm that was drawing closer and closer. Dark Sonic didn't even appear hurt as he looked up at Shadow with his glowing eyes and simply brushed a bit of dirt out of his quills as he stood up.

"I thought I warned you against pissing me off?" Dark Sonic reminded innocently before shooting another burst of chaos energy at Shadow. Shadow was sent flying backwards until his back collided with the wall of the cliff. He let out a small yelp of pain as the energy felt like it was burning his body like he was stood in the middle of a fire, but was powerless to get out of it.

The assault of energy ceased and Shadow seized the opportunity and shot a chaos spear at Dark Sonic. Shadow then watched in shock as Dark Sonic simply caught the energy in his hand before polluting it with his negative energy. He turned the yellow bolt to dark blue before firing it back at Shadow. Managing to spin dash out of the way just in time, Shadow was stopped mid spin by something grabbing hold of his ankle and slammed him to the ground. Pain shot up Shadow's spine and to the rest of his body while a small smile remained on Dark Sonic's face, showing no signs of discomfort or fatigue from the battle.

Quicker than the blink of an eye, Dark Sonic punched Shadow in the face and watched in satisfaction as blood trickled out of his nose. Shadow quickly wiped some of it away with his gloved hand as his eyes locked murderously with Dark Sonic's.

"You'll pay for that!"

Shadow pushed himself up off the ground and swung his leg around, attempting to trip Dark Sonic up. The dark blue hedgehog easily dodged Shadow's attack by levitating off the ground before copying his rival's actions, but instead he kicked him in the face. In the moments that Shadow was left slightly dazed, Dark Sonic clasped his hands around Shadow's throat. Shadow wrapped his hands around Dark Sonic as he attempted to pull him off him, but Dark Sonic was just too strong as he clung onto his neck.

In order to allow his escape, Shadow settled for punching Dark Sonic in the face as hard as he could. The shock forced Dark Sonic to let go, but he didn't appear to be hurt by the attack and they both growled at each other in frustration.

"You do realise that strangling isn't enough to kill me?" Shadow mocked with a smug grin on his face. "I can hold my breath indefinitely. Now what were you saying about me not being an ultimate lifeform?"

Dark Sonic snarled at him before a shocked expression suddenly replaced his bloodthirsty, murderous one. Shadow watched in confusion as Dark Sonic took a step back and Shadow wondered if he was about to switch back, however there didn't seem to be any signs of his fur changing colour or anything. Dark Sonic placed a hand gently on his head as if he had a headache and groaned slightly before snapping out of whatever state he was in to glare back at Shadow.

"Make a choice, faker." Dark Sonic snapped. "You're either on my side, or you're not."

"Why would I side with someone like you?" Shadow replied dryly as he stood in a fighting position with his fists ready.

"Fine, have it your way. This isn't the first time you've betrayed me." Dark Sonic remained in a casual stance.

"What are you talking about?"

Shadow was quickly silenced though, as negative chaos energy was shot at him and he was sent flying backwards. The familiar intense burning sensation filled his body again and Shadow groaned in agony before he dropped like a heavy rock onto the ground, creating a small impact crater around him.

He managed to open his red eyes as the storm clouds began swirling above him and the heavy rain began pounding down. Lightening flashed across the sky, brightly illuminating the dark creature above him who sported a victorious grin.

"I'm sorry you have to see this." Shadow managed to catch Dark Sonic mumbling before he swooped down towards him.

.

Cream took a deep breath as she gently knocked on the door of Amy's room. There was no reply so Cream gently opened the door and peered inside. She momentarily panicked as Amy's bed appeared empty before her eyes scanned the room and caught the little pink hedgehog curled up into a tight ball, asleep in the far corner of the room. Taking a step inside, Cream then froze as her movement caused Amy to stir slightly before her eyes gently fluttered open.

"Cream?" Amy's voice croaked slightly, still heavy with sleep.

"Good morning Amy, h-how are you feeling?" Cream asked timidly as Amy appeared to be acting normal so far.

Amy sat up, yawned and stretched before looking around the room in confusion. "What the heck am I doing sleeping in the corner?"

"I was just about to ask you that." Cream responded, her voice full of concern.

Amy groaned slightly. "Maybe I was just sleep walking."

Cream nodded before taking a cautious step forward. Amy noticed and stared at Cream in confusion as her friend acted like she was some sort of feral and unpredictable wild animal.

"What's up?" Amy asked slightly fearfully.

"Amy…what do you remember about yesterday?"

"Not much and I really don't care." Amy muttered as she made her way over to her bed and collapsed onto it. "I just want Sonic back."

Cream sighed with relief as Amy suddenly appeared to be sane again. Depressed, but sane.

"Well it looks like Knuckles saw Dark Sonic." Cream explained. "Maybe he can offer some leads on how to help him."

"What? Really?" Amy gasped, sitting up. She was still pale and tired looking, but there was a slight sparkle of hope in her eyes and that made Cream smile with relief.

"Sure." Cream said, hoping to bring Amy out of hibernation. "We're just waiting for him to come round."

Cream had barely finished her sentence before Amy was running out of the door and down the stairs. Cream followed as Amy burst into the living room and gasped as she saw Knuckles laying on the couch, just appearing to be waking up. His leg was held in a cast and he was covered in cuts and bruises. Tails and Rouge were standing over him.

"Knuckles?" Tails asked as Knuckles' purple eyes scanned the room.

"Where am I?" Knuckles mumbled in confusion.

"You're at Vanilla's house." Rouge explained. "I found you unconscious on Angel Island."

"And the master emerald?" Knuckles questioned.

"Gone." Rouge sighed.

Knuckles growled lowly to himself as he sat up clenching his fists. "I'll kill him."

"Who?" Amy asked.

"Dark Sonic, who else?" Knuckles snapped. "The last thing I remember was catching him trying to steal the master emerald before we battled and he knocked me out."

A heavy silence filled the room at the mention of Dark Sonic before Rouge broke it.

"Uh, look at us. We need to stop dancing around the subject of Dark Sonic and tackle it head on. He needs to be stopped."

"But how?" Amy asked. "We can't hurt him."

Tails shot her an odd look which unnerved Amy slightly before the young fox placed a hand on his chin in thought.

"Why would Sonic steal the master emerald?"

"Beats me, but whatever the reason, I'm still taking him down." Knuckles grunted in anger.

"Perhaps he wanted more power." Tails began to muse.

"Well just let him try and steal the power. I'll defeat him before he can even touch it." Knuckles yelled determinedly as he attempted to stand up. However he collapsed back onto the couch in pain and Rouge shook her head at him.

"Defeat him? You can't even walk, let alone find him. No one knows where Dark Sonic goes." Rouge sighed.

Cream gasped slightly as Amy suddenly collapsed against the wall, pressing her back against it as she stared straight ahead.

"Leave me alone." Amy mumbled.

"Not again." Cream cried out as she began sobbing and clinging to Amy. "Amy please."

"Amy?" Tails questioned. "Is everything alright?"

Amy slowly slid down the wall as she placed her hands on her head and curled into a tight ball on the floor. She began rocking back and forth manically as the others watched on in horror.

"What's going on?" Knuckles asked.

"The same thing happened last night." Tails explained as he walked over to where Cream was clinging on to Amy, begging her to snap out of it.

"Traitor." Amy whispered with a shaky voice and Tails managed to pull Cream away and place a hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Amy, please tell us what's the matter." Tails asked patiently.

Amy looked up and gazed into Tails' blue eyes. Tails looked back at her and tried to decipher what was wrong as he assessed her facial expressions and body language. This was now the second time this spontaneous erratic behaviour had appeared and Tails wondered why. Was it her head injury, the stress or something else?

Amy waved her hand up as if she wanted to tell him something and Tails nodded in understanding, encouraging her to try and communicate. She stared off into the distance and brushed her fingers against her lips before whimpering in fear, curling up further and humming softly to herself.

"What does all this mean?" Cream cried.

Tails was stumped as he stared down at his insane friend. Amy was always so determined and never gave up so why the sudden snap in her mind? Tails really didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't help Sonic, he couldn't help Knuckles and now he couldn't help Amy. Was he now destined to fail all his friends and watched them suffer in front of him whilst he was helpless to stop it? Tails let a scared gasp at the thought.

The pink hedgehog continued rocking back and forth before she let out a small scream and stared at her hands. She began scratching at her gloves as if she was trying to get dirt of them and began brushing them urgently against her dress. Clearly what she was doing was doing nothing to help and she began crying.

"Get it off." Amy cried out as tears streamed down her face. "Get it off."

"Get what off?" Tails asked worriedly.

Amy continued rubbing her hands together while she sobbed before she quickly turned and ran into the kitchen. Cream and Tails followed her while Rouge and Knuckles watched on in alarm. Amy opened the kitchen drawers and searched through them before she took out a largest knife she could find and hovered it over her wrist.

"Need to get it off. Yeah. Need to get it off." Amy muttered insanely as she raised the knife.

"NO!" Both Tails and Cream cried out. Cream managed to pin Amy's arms to her side while Tails easily snatched the knife off her, preventing her from cutting her own hand off. Amy collapsed against Cream, who cried as she held her in her arms and Tails slowly placed the knife down on the kitchen counter with wide eyes.

"Please." Amy whimpered as she shook her head before passing out as Tails and Cream exchanged fearful glances.

.

The Lieutenant marched down the dark corridor that led to the Commander's office. He carried a file in his hand and he brushed a lock of plum purple hair out of his face before stopping in front of the metal door. He knocked twice and heard the Commander's authority filled voice speak from the other side.

"Enter."

The Lieutenant opened the door and walked inside, quickly closing it shut behind him. The Commander watched him from his desk, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded. After saluting, the Lieutenant placed the file down on the Commander's desk.

"Here it is." He explained as the Commander picked it up and examined it. "This will help create a better world."

"I'm still not too sure about this." The Commander murmured as he looked through all the paper work.

"With all due respect sir, we can't allow this to continue. The threat will always be there and we need to act now before they get ideas from Dark Sonic." The Lieutenant sighed. "We let Shadow continue to pursue Dark Sonic as he's probably the only one who can do it, but as he does that, we carry out with my plan."

The Commander ran a hand through his grey hair as he debated.

"Please try to understand sir," The Lieutenant begged, "If we don't act fast they will all realise that they have the power to overthrow us. They'll unite with Dark Sonic and take us down. They'll wipe humans off the face of the planet. Dark Sonic is already the most powerful creature right now but what happens if he breeds or shares his power with other anthropomorphic creatures?"

The Commander sighed before staring up at the Lieutenant with a determined expression. "You make valid points."

The Lieutenant smiled. "I knew you'd see things my way, sir."

"You have my permission to carry out the plan."

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. I'll hopefully be publishing my first sonamy one-short request tomorrow if all goes well. If you have a request, feel free to leave one and I'll see what I can do. **


	18. Demonic Intruder

**Thanks for the awesome reviews!**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**18: Demonic Intruder**

Tails yawned sleepily before he went back to furiously writing down notes on a notepad that Vanilla had lent him. He felt like he had been stuck here for eternity, unable to reach his workshop through the imminent threat of Dark Sonic and now on top of that, it looked like they had to start worrying about GUN coming after them. The world was in a mess.

Knuckles was snoring away on the couch and the girls were all upstairs in bed whilst Rouge had left a few hours prior to return to GUN headquarters in the hopes of finding out more information. Shadow seemed to have gone missing, but they weren't too worried, knowing full well that hedgehog could take care of himself. But that still didn't stop Rouge from worrying slightly as they were supposed to be working together in capturing Dark Sonic.

Another spring storm was raging overhead and Tails jumped every time a flash of lightening lit up the room in a spectacular bright glow in the pitch darkness of night. The TV signal had cut out, but Tails wasn't even sure if he wanted to watch it. All anyone ever talked about on that device right now was Dark Sonic and Tails couldn't bring himself to watch what everyone was saying about his suddenly deranged best friend.

He scratched the back of his head with his pencil before groaning and scrunching up the piece of paper and pushing it to one side of the large coffee table in front of him. It wasn't exactly his desk at the workshop, but it would have to do for now. He flinched at another flash of lightning and Knuckles' snores faltered slightly before picking back up again and Tails shook his head at the noise his red echidna friend was making. Even though Tails highly doubted he'd be able to concentrate even without Knuckles snoring his head off, it would've been nice to have some piece and quite.

Looking over at Knuckles and the injuries he had sustained filled Tails' mind with unanswered questions as to what Dark Sonic was even doing there in the first place. None of his actions were making any sense. The only reason Tails could think of as to why Dark Sonic would steal the master emerald was in order to gain more power.

Tails shivered as the room seemed to suddenly become very cold, halting his thought process further before he sighed with defeat and slouched down in the armchair. It was hopeless. Dark Sonic was going to win at whatever it was he was playing at, end of story. There were no signs of his best friend in the white lifeless eyes that glowed in the dark mist that surrounded him. His best friend was lost forever. Tears built up in his eyes at the thought. There were no signs of Dark Sonic switching back anytime soon, not at the rate he was going anyway. A lump formed in Tails' throat, a tight knot that refused to budge and he began shaking with his repressed sobs. Sonic really was gone. It appeared that the negative energy of the chaos emeralds had corrupted him completely and there was no goodness left in him. Maybe Dark Sonic saving them in the beginning was just an attempt to annoy Eggman rather than out of concern for the safety of his friends. That would make sense given Dark Sonic's actions afterwards. Trying to kill Amy, destroying the cities and now murder.

Sonic was gone.

A creak in the floorboards above him caught his attention and Tails' ear twitched the direction. He told himself that it was just one of the girls moving about, but an unexplainable feeling of dread flooded his stomach and the noise happened again, only this time it was louder. What would one of them be doing wandering about at this late hour anyway? Unless it was just the house settling?

The rain continued to pound against the window and another flash of lightening lit up the room, only this time Tails remained frozen as he listened out for the noise again. Something didn't feel right. He decided to go up and check to see if any of the girls were moving around upstairs. Then maybe that would put his mind at rest. Tails made his way up the stairs as quietly as he could, clinging onto the wooden banister of the stairs as his limbs shook with fear and his heart pounded loudly in his chest. He remained on high alert as he reached the top of the stairs and peered down the dark hall. Everything seemed to be fine. No lights were on and he could hear Cream's heavy breathing behind the wooden door he was stood next to that was covered in her drawings.

The floorboards creaked beneath his feet slightly as he walked, matching the sounds he had heard earlier. So somebody had been walking about up here. A muffled sound came from Amy's room and Tails froze once again. He wondered if she was having another episode. It had taken them two hours to calm her down earlier in the day after she had woken up from passing out. Afterwards, Vanilla had finally managed to get Amy to sleep and she hadn't been any bother the whole afternoon. She hadn't done anything as drastic after trying to cut her hand off, but her incoherent mumbling and singing had continued, only a few words clear enough for Tails to make out and none of them were really related to each other.

Tails tilted his head closer to the door in order to listen better. Upon hearing shuffling sounds and Amy's muffled whimper, he decided that he better go in there and check on her. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the cold metal doorknob and twisted gently before gingerly pushing the door open.

Gasping in fright, Tails fell backwards slightly as he took on the sight of Dark Sonic hovering over Amy's sleeping form as she tossed and turned. Dark Sonic's head snapped around as he heard Tails open the door and bared his teeth at him before he seemed to recognise him. The dark hedgehog floated back down to stand on the floor and assessed his friend in front of him.

"Tails." Dark Sonic greeted.

Tails really wanted to believe that it truly was just Sonic that was standing in front of him. To see joy filled, shining green eyes instead of cold, white ones that held very little emotion. To see his friend smiling at him in a friendly way rather than the taunting smirk that he now possessed.

"Stay away from her!" Tails ordered, conjuring up all of the bravery he possessed to protect Amy from whatever Dark Sonic was planning to do to her.

"I know you're thinking you're protecting Amy, but trust me," Dark Sonic chuckled, "I know what's best of her."

Tails shook his head before glaring at him. "What do you want to do to her? Kill her?"

Dark Sonic sighed. "All in good time."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you should keep your nose out." Dark Sonic snapped.

Tails flinched before managing to regain his composure. Sonic would never shout at him in such a way. It only reinforced the fact in his head that this was no longer Sonic. This was a demon full of corrupting negative chaos energy. Pure evil.

"You don't scare me."

Dark Sonic folded his arms and took a step towards Tails who, with a lot of effort, remained in place.

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Tails nodded. "A good friend once told me to never surrender to evil, no matter what."

"Wise words. I remember telling you. I'm glad." Dark Sonic's smirk widened.

Tails' glare melted into a confused expression, but his tough stance never relaxed. What was Dark Sonic playing at?

"Hmph, so there's still some regular Sonic in you then?" Tails noted.

Dark Sonic ran a hand through his upturned quills, turned his head to face Amy's sleeping form for a split second before he looked back to grin at Tails. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I still am Sonic."

Tails' anger boiled to breaking point. "No you're not." He hissed. "How dare you compare yourself to someone so heroic and good. You're nothing like him! You're evil!"

Amy's eyes snapped open at Tails' shouting and her eyes scanned the room frantically, yet she seemed oblivious to the scene before her. Dark Sonic didn't react while Tails stared at her in alarm at how she would react to seeing Dark Sonic for the first time; especially given that he was in her room.

"Need to stop them." Amy mumbled in a trance like state.

"Now look what you've done." Dark Sonic scolded Tails in a patronising way, causing Tails to glare up at him again.

Dark Sonic just smiled and tilted his head to one side.

"What have you done to her?!" Tails demanded.

"Stop the link." Amy pulled at her quills and squeezed her eyes tightly shut and rolled to one side, remaining in a foetal position as she trembled.

They both stared at her, waiting for her to say more, but nothing happened so they turned back towards each other.

"I asked you about what you've done to her." Tails repeated through clenched teeth.

Dark Sonic merely lightly chuckled, remaining in a relaxed stance.

"Transfer!" Amy yelled out of nowhere.

"I believe Amy just answered your question." Dark Sonic angled his body towards the window. "As much as I'd love to stay and talk, I have stuff to do and sooner or later, you'll be joining me."

Tails' eyes widened at Dark Sonic's words before Dark Sonic laughed as he walked towards the window and faded away as if he was a ghost.

Tails looked back at Amy who was staring off into space before she began making wild gestures with her hands.

"Oh Amy," Tails sighed, his voice full of sadness, "What has he done to you?"

"Purge." Amy mumbled the same word from before.

"Purge what?" Tails sat down on her bed to question her, hoping to get some sense out of her, or at least understand what was wrong with her.

Amy didn't reply. In fact she was acting like Tails wasn't even there as she fiddled with her golden ring bracelet.

"Amy, can you hear me?" Tails asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

She remained unresponsive before her head suddenly snapped up and she pointed and laughed at him.

"Clueless!"

Tails sighed as he covered his face with his hands in stress. "Yes I am."

Where did this insanity suddenly come from?

Tails suddenly got an idea: Amy had started drawing what was clearly on her mind when Cream had given her the pens, so maybe she would do the same this time. Then he could perhaps try and make more sense of what was going on in her head. Shooting one last worried glance at Amy who had begun humming and swaying from side to side, Tails made his way quickly back downstairs and grabbed his notepad and pen before dashing back up and handing it to Amy. She stared at it in confusion, her eyes darting from the paper and back to Tails.

"Ok, so she seems to be demonstrating some form of response here." Tails noted out loud as he forced the pen and paper into her hands.

His hopes raised as Amy began doodling and he peered over her shoulder with interest. A lot of the shapes didn't make much sense and he doubted they were intended to, but he could soon make out the shape of a gun and he tilted his head in confusion.

"Are you referring to GUN?" Tails questioned.

Amy's face twisted into one of anger before aggressively drawing a cross through the weapon and drawing a smiley face next to it.

"No guns make you happy?"

"Tails." Amy whimpered.

"Amy?" he bent down to her level, hoping that she was regaining her sanity again. "Can you hear me?"

Amy sighed and rubbed her eyes before slowly getting out of bed. Faster than Tails could react, she bolted downstairs. Tails unfroze and followed her.

"Amy, get back here!" Tails hissed as quietly as possibly, trying hard not to wake anyone else up.

She sat down on the couch opposite Knuckles, stared at him for a few seconds and then began playing with her quills. Tails sighed and stood next to her, watching and analysing her every move. Knuckles startled awake and looked at them both in confusion.

"What are you both doing down here?" He asked groggily.

"Sorry Knuckles," Tails apologised, "It looks like Amy's having another episode and she just ran down here. But I caught Dark Sonic in her room."

Amy whimpered at his name and Tails wondered whether or not if it was just a coincidence. She curled further into the cushions, squeezed her eyes tightly shut and placed her hands over her ears. Tails turned her attention back to Knuckles who suddenly looked enraged and ready for a fight.

"That creep was here?" He growled out, trying to sit up but let out a small groan as his body still ached from his injuries.

"Yeah, he was just floating around in Amy's room when I found him. I'm not too sure what he was doing there, but whatever it is, it can't be good. I think he has something to do with Amy's insanity." Tails explained.

"Well, the loss of any sanity she had to begin with anyway."

Tails shot Knuckles a warning glare. "This is serious. She's really sick."

"Please, stop it." Amy whimpered as she began rocking back and forth.

"Stop what?" Knuckles demanded.

"Free me."

Tails and Knuckles exchanged a glance before watching Amy to see what she did next.

"Free me." She repeated. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"That's the longest coherent sentence she's said so far." Tails sighed as he sat down next to Amy, still watching her carefully.

"Who's she talking to? And more importantly, what is she talking about?" Knuckles asked.

Tails shook his head slowly in defeat. "I wish I knew."

Amy's head snapped up to stare at Tails. Her green eyes appeared dead, no longer the happy and sparkly orbs they used to be.

"Attack." Amy managed to choke out. "Plan attack."

"Attack?" Tails repeated in confusion. "Attack on what?"

"Great, she really has gone nuts." Knuckles grumbled. "That's all we need at a time like this. Do you think she's just depressed from Sonic going all evil?"

"I don't think this is depression Knuckles." Tails sighed as Amy embraced a cushion close to her chest before she began staring blankly ahead.

"Then what's Dark Sonic done to her?"

"Power is enriched by the heart." Amy sang.

"Well done." Knuckles praised her mockingly before turning back to Tails, awaiting his answer.

"When I asked him the question, Amy said something and then Dark Sonic said that she had answered my question."

"Well, what did she say?"

"Transfer, I think." Tails answered as he tried to think about what that could possibly mean.

"Transfer? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know Knuckles!" Tails snapped out of frustration. "Don't you think I'm trying to figure this whole mess out?" He stopped himself took a deep breath to calm down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you."

"Don't worry about it." Knuckles mumbled as he stared at his cast with a sour expression. "We're all under stress with this whole situation. The sooner we get rid of this problem the better."

"But how?" Tails shrieked. "I have absolutely no idea what to do."

Knuckles shrugged. "Maybe this requires more than just brains. Maybe we need to think outside the box with this one."

"I just feel like I'm missing something important. Some vital piece of information. Or that the answer is right in front of my eyes, but I just can't see it." Tails tugged at his fur in frustration. "There has to be a cure for Sonic, there just has to be. His super state isn't permanent, so why should his dark state be?"

"No threat." Amy breathed as her eyes began to flutter closed.

"Do you think that maybe we should call a doctor?" Knuckles asked as he stared at Amy's now sleeping form worriedly.

"I'll call Doctor Wise in the morning." Tails said as he also began to feel himself drifting off. "Maybe he can do something to help her." Was the last thing Tails added before the long night of thinking and planning caught up with him and he fell asleep.

.

"Ok boys," Rouge whispered to herself, "What are you planning?"

She had managed to squeeze herself into the same air vent as before, overlooking the conference room where many of the high ranking GUN soldiers had gathered for a meeting. The room was full of whispering as the soldiers waited for the meeting to start, wondering what could possibly be going on.

Rouge's ear twitched as she heard someone clearing their throat at the front of the room and she turned her attention to the now very familiar purple haired lieutenant. His hands were clasped behind his back and she could just about make out his determined expression through the small slits in the vent where a cool breeze was passing through.

"The time has come." The lieutenant began. "These anthros are becoming a huge threat. A threat that we can no longer ignore."

"Huh?" Rouge heard one of the soldiers mumble and she smirked. She was glad that she was on the same page as at least one of the humans here. She listened harder.

"First we have Dark Sonic, but what next?" The Lieutenant continued. "They are already much more powerful than we are and they could rise up and exterminate us as if we are nothing but vermin to them. But I say they are the vermin."

The soldiers began whispering amongst themselves.

"Think about it. Many of you are married with children. Do you want them to be in a world that's constantly under threat? Isn't that why you all signed up for this job? To protect them and the other people of our world? And I say people because these anthros aren't people. They're nothing but animals who have become too powerful for their own good. They must be destroyed."

A few soldiers began nodding in agreement and Rouge's eyes widened in astonishment. They couldn't actually be falling for all of this?

"You saw Dark Sonic's power!" The Lieutenant shrieked, happy that people were beginning to see his argument. "What if he shares that power? His offspring could possess even greater power and we'd all be in danger. All it takes is a bit of chaos energy for them to become corrupted and for their powers to become stronger. The Dark Sonic problem has grown out of control and we need to prevent another incident like this from happening again. Who wants a safe world? Who wants a world free from anthro threat? Who will join me?!"

The crowd's cheers grew louder and Rouge slammed her fist down on the mental beneath her in anger. Those fools.

The cheering suddenly stopped as they turned around to find the source of the loud banging sound. Rouge froze as she realised her mistake before the vent was ripped open by a group of soldiers who pulled her out roughly, clinging onto her arms, preventing her from escaping.

"Hey!" She yelled. "That's no way to treat a lady!"

"You're no lady you stupid anthro!" The lieutenant spat as he regarded her with disgust. "Spying on our meetings, huh? I told you these anthros couldn't be trusted."

"You guys can't actually be falling for all of his sweet talk?" Rouge remained calm as she smirked at them all. "Can't you see he's manipulating all of you?"

"Don't listen to her poisonous lies." The Lieutenant ordered as he glared at her. "Agent Rouge, you're under arrest."

"What?" Rouge gasped.

"You heard me." The Lieutenant replied with a smirk forming on his face. "Take her away."

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	19. Decrepit Mentality

**Yikes! Sorry I took so long with this update. Mainly down to real life getting in the way and I was sick this past weekend which delayed it further. Thanks for being patient though. **

**Thank you for the reviews.**

**I own nothing**

* * *

**19: Decrepit Mentality **

The rising sun of the new day was completely invisible behind the thick blanket of dark, thick clouds that loomed over the city of Station Square. Everything was still fairly dark with some people beginning to stir within their houses, preparing for work and other daily activities while others continued to sleep peacefully.

The air was heavy with a morning mist and many figures were beginning to slowly appear at the bottom of a quiet street, marching forward in an orderly fashion. The GUN soldiers stopped, holding their weapons tightly in their hands with neutral expressions on their faces, waiting for their next command.

The Lieutenant walked confidently on ahead of them, a megaphone held loosely at his side before he brought it up to his face.

"All anthros are ordered to step out of their homes immediately. I repeat, all anthros are ordered to step out of their homes immediately." The Lieutenant commanded.

A few GUN soldiers exchanged glances before a few anthros and even a few humans poked their heads around their front doors and out of their windows, curious as to what was going on. Some of them began to timidly step out, staring at the soldiers in confusion and in a slight state of worry, wondering if they had done something wrong.

"Hands in the air!" The Lieutenant barked his order.

The few anthros that had stepped outside slowly held their hands in the air, exchanging glances to see if anyone else knew what was going on.

"What's going on?" A small rabbit finally asked as his hands rose into the air.

"Cleaning up the planet." The Lieutenant smirked in response. "Private Smith, handcuff him."

Private Smith marched over and did as he was told, the rabbit struggled to break free before glaring up at the Lieutenant.

"But I haven't done anything wrong!" He protested.

The Lieutenant shook his head as the smirk remained on his face. "You existed."

"Excuse me?"

"Private Smith, shoot him." The Lieutenant ordered coldly.

"What?" Private Smith gasped.

"I said _shoot him._"

The young private stared at the fearful rabbit and down at his gun before he threw his weapon to the floor.

"No." He disobeyed and the Lieutenant's eyes flashed dangerously at his disobedience.

"What did you just say?"

"I said no." The Private said more confidently, standing protectively in front of the rabbit. "I think this whole thing has been ridiculous from the start. You can't blame a whole species for something that Doctor Eggman did. GUN was designed to protect people, anthros included, not exterminate them."

The Lieutenant grinded his teeth at his words. "A traitor, huh?" The Lieutenant pulled the gun from his belt and aimed it at the Private. "Well, then maybe you'll serve as a fine example of what happens when you disobey orders and serve the enemy. Two for the price of one."

The sound of a gunshot filled the air and both the rabbit and the Private flinched back, waiting for death to take them, but nothing happened. There were gasps of horror and fear from the other GUN soldiers as Dark Sonic appeared, blocking the bullet, deflecting it into a GUN soldier next to the Lieutenant.

Dark Sonic smirked at the soldiers, challenging them as he hovered protectively in front of the human and the rabbit.

"Looks like my sources were indeed correct." Dark Sonic smiled creepily at the soldiers. "You are trying to exterminate all anthro creatures."

"And I see you've finally decided to show your face to us." The Lieutenant showed no fear as the other soldiers took a step back. "That's quite a lot of power you have right now. It's a shame you use it for evil."

Dark Sonic chuckled. "Funny, I should say the same thing about you."

The Lieutenant frowned at Dark Sonic's playful attitude. "Shoot him."

Most of the GUN soldiers immediately began firing at Dark Sonic who just sighed in boredom as the bullets bounced off him, many of them reflected back to the soldier's, shooting them dead as the bullets entered their chests. Some GUN soldiers deserted, running behind Dark Sonic like many of the anthros in the neighbourhood had with Dark Sonic keeping a protective stance in front of them, making sure no bullets hit them.

Soon many of the GUN soldiers still fighting for the Lieutenant's cause were now lying in a pool of their own blood with only a few remaining. The Lieutenant held his hand out to stop his last group of soldiers from shooting.

"You see how powerful he has become?" The Lieutenant glared directly at Dark Sonic who remained unamused by what was going on.

"To the point where your stupid weapons bore me." Dark Sonic disparaged as the wind around them picked up and a loud engine noise could be heard overhead.

A military helicopter landed behind the Lieutenant and the GUN soldiers next to him hopped on board, followed by the Lieutenant who grabbed hold of the handle and leaned out as it began to take off.

"I now realise I have to use different means in order to make this planet safe again, but don't worry _Dark _Sonic. I will catch you."

Dark Sonic watched, uninterested as the helicopter flew off and disappeared into the misty sky. He looked down at the puddles of blood on the floor before turning to the people behind him.

The rabbit walked up to him timidly.

"You're not all bad are you?" He asked in a quiet voice. "You just protected us, even those who were originally against you." He gestured to the defected GUN soldiers who all stared at him in amazement, but with fear still evident on their features. "Thank you so much."

Dark Sonic didn't react as he turned his attention to where the hills would normally be visible, only right now, they were hidden by the swirling mist. The mist was becoming so heavy that it seemed like the dark mist the surrounded Dark Sonic was connected to the clouds around him, as if he was one with the world.

"GUN won't stop though." A female wolf shrieked worriedly.

"They'll kill us too." One the of the GUN soldiers sighed. "Anyone who goes against them are now enemies worthy of death."

Everyone began panicking amongst themselves and Dark Sonic's ear twitched in irritation before he turned back to face the small terrified crowd.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Dark Sonic yelled and everyone immediately became silent, fearful of what he would do next. "One of Eggman's old bases is in one of those hills in the distance." He pointed in the direction. "GUN never knew about it because I dealt with him there before they could ever catch onto him. You'll be safe hiding in there."

"Oh thank you!" The rabbit gasped out as he approached Dark Sonic more confidently this time. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

Dark Sonic smirked. "I just need loyal supporters." He turned to fly away before one of the GUN soldier's voices stopped him.

"Are you going after the Lieutenant?"

"That pest can wait." Dark Sonic chuckled. "I still have something I need to find first."

.

"Thanks for coming at such short notice, Doctor Wise." Tails smiled gratefully as he allowed the elderly owl into Vanilla's house.

"Not at all. I did say that if Amy was having any trouble, then I should be contacted immediately." Doctor Wise explained as Tails led him into the living room. He placed his bag of equipment on the table and turned back to Tails who fidgeted worriedly. "I tried to get here as soon as I could, but there was a problem with Dark Sonic in the city."

"He was in Station Square?" Tails gasped, horrified.

Doctor Wise nodded glumly. "I'm not too sure what happened as GUN aren't reporting anything but there are rumours that a few GUN soldiers were killed and a few people have gone missing."

"Oh, well, thanks for the information." Tails sounded more stressed than ever as he rubbed his forehead.

"Now, what seems to be the problem with Amy?" The Doctor asked, realising they'd digressed slightly.

Tails stopped fidgeting and placed his hands behind his back as he tried to find the right words to explain exactly what was going on. "Well…Amy's been acting a bit strange lately?"

"Strange? What kind of strange?"

"Strange to the point of insanity. There are times where she seemed normal and then she just seems to slip into episodes of insanity. She sings to herself, talks nonsense to herself, she drew on Cream's floor and all sorts of other stuff. I just don't know what to do anymore doctor." Tails explained, feeling utterly useless.

"May I see her?" Doctor Wise requested seriously as he picked up his medical kit. Tails nodded, leading him upstairs to Amy's room.

"You're just in time anyway." Tails sighed as they stood outside her door. "She seemed normal this morning, but she seems to have snapped again."

"When did she slip back into it?"

"About an hour ago. We haven't told her you're coming." Tails replied as he gently opened Amy's bedroom door.

They both slowly peered inside to see Amy leaning against the wall, staring blankly ahead.

"Amy?" Tails spoke softly as he gingerly stepped inside her room.

Amy didn't move.

"Doctor Wise is here. Do you remember him?" Tails asked. "He helped you while you were in hospital."

Amy cringed back slightly. "He did nothing." She said in a flat tone before curling into a ball, resting her chin on her knees and continuing to stare ahead.

"That's actually quite responsive compared to other times." Tails noted to the Doctor who nodded in understanding.

They were careful to stay as far away from Amy as possible so as not to scare her. Doctor Wise made notes on everything that he was seeing and hearing before he slowly made his way over to sit on the desk chair near the window.

Amy looked up at him before sighing and looking straight ahead again.

"So you do recognise him?" Tails questioned.

"Need to break it." Amy growled out as she clenched her fists.

"Break what, Amy?" Doctor Wise asked as he leaned forward slightly. "Let us help you."

Amy didn't respond as she remained as still as a statue. She pressed her lips tightly together before finally moving her fingers up to trace the outline of her lips.

"So cold."

"Do you need a blanket?" Tails asked with concern, taking a step forward.

"I don't think she's in the real world right now." The Doctor sighed as he stared at Amy with eyes full of sympathy.

"But why is she behaving like this? Is it because of her previous head injury?"

Doctor Wise shook his head. "I very much doubt it. If she had any brain damage, it would've been apparent the moment she woke up. Besides, we also did scans of her brain just in case and she was perfectly healthy. Whatever this is, her physical injuries weren't the cause."

"What about post-traumatic stress disorder?"

"That is a possibility." Doctor Wise agreed as he refused to take his eyes off Amy. "She was complaining of nightmares when she was still in the hospital. Although I've never seen a PTSD case quite like this before. Tails, do you think you could tell me everything that happened to her after leaving the hospital?"

"Sure." Tails began explaining. "She seemed fine until we told her about what happened to Sonic. She became slightly depressed which was understandable, I mean she has been in love with him for as long as I can remember. She shut herself in her room for a while and it was a few nights ago when she first had an insane episode."

"What happened?"

"I'm not too sure; she was with Cream for most of the time. I just know that she was mumbling things and drew what looked like a chaos emerald and a gun on Cream's floor and when she tried to put Amy to bed, she just started freaking out and refused to enter her room."

Both their heads snapped around to stare at Amy as she shivered, her eyes darted to the window before she pressed herself harder against the wall.

Tails' face turned grave as he began telling of her next episode. "I was there for the duration of her next episode. She started shouting random words and seemed to be in a great deal of distress. It was like she was seeing something that we weren't and then she…" Tails shuddered.

"What?" The Doctor pressed.

"She…tried to cut off her own hands."

"I know this is hard, but please continue."

Tails took a deep breath and did as the Doctor told. "She then passed out after that so we put her to bed. I was staying up late that night when I heard noises coming from her room so I went up to investigate and I found _him _in there."

"Who?" Although Doctor Wise had a feeling he already knew.

"Dark Sonic." Tails growled out his name. "He was just hovering over her. I think it's him that's done something to her. He seemed to tease me with the fact that he had. When I asked, Amy shouted the word 'transfer' and Dark Sonic said that she had answered my question."

Doctor Wise looked deep in thought before he pushed his spectacles further up his beak. "And his Dark state is similar to his super state I presume? Except this time he absorbed the negative energy?"

"That's right." Tails clenched his fists at the thought. "Now he's evil."

Amy giggled, but said nothing more.

Tails stared at her in alarm. "I swear that even though she may not respond appropriately, she can still understand everything we are saying."

"Interesting hypothesis Tails, I'll be sure to take it into account when I'm assessing her." Doctor Wise assured him before adding, "Now, I would like some time to speak with Amy alone."

"Of course, just call me if you need anything." Tails offered before he quietly made his way out of the room and shooting Amy one last worried glance before disappearing.

"So it's just you and me now Amy." Doctor Wise gave her a small smile. Amy stared up at him. "Judging by one of your responses earlier, you do indeed seem to recognise me. You said I did nothing."

Amy traced her lips with her finger again as she stared off into space.

"Oh come on Amy." Doctor Wise pulled his chair closer to her. "If you can understand us, why don't you respond? What's stopping you? I promise that if you tell me a secret, I promise it'll stay between you and me."

"There's no more secrets." Amy sighed as she continued tracing her lips.

"Aha, so you definitely do understand me." Doctor Wise made a note before turning back to face her. "What do you mean there's no more secrets?"

Amy abruptly stood up, making the Doctor jump slightly before he regained his professional composure and watched as Amy paced the room. She had a deep frown on her face, but didn't look like she was about to do anything dangerous.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Amy growled out.

"Doing what?" Doctor Wise questioned.

Amy refused to look at him as she carried on pacing, picking up speed.

"Please just stop it." She whimpered.

"Is something bothering you, Amy?"

Amy slumped down again before tears began leaking from her eyes. The Doctor's heart broke at the sight as Amy ran her fingers through her quills.

"Should've let me die."

"No Amy, we're not going to let you die." The Doctor tried to reassure her. "We're always going to help you get better. I helped you when you were in a coma and I'll help you again now. It's what I'm here for."

Amy turned to glare at him. "You have done nothing." She said each syllable of every word sharply and Doctor Wise stared at her with wide eyes.

"W-what do you mean?"

Amy rocked back and forth slightly as she glared straight ahead. "_I'll get you_." She spat harshly.

"Ok, Amy, I'm going to try something different now. I'm going to say certain words to you and feel free to react to them however you want." Doctor Wise sat closer to her so he could judge her reactions better.

"Cream."

No response.

"Tails."

No response.

"Hmmm, Dark Sonic."

Amy flinched back before her eyes darted wildly around the room and she placed her hands over her ears.

"It's ok, Amy." Doctor Wise reached out to place a hand on her shoulder which began shaking under his touch. "He's not here, he's not going to hurt you."

"He's always here." Amy whimpered. "Always watching."

Doctor Wise felt like he was beginning to understand what was happening, although he certainly hoped that there was a better explanation for her condition. He pieced together Amy's words in his mind and kept coming to the same conclusion. He was surprised the young fox hadn't worked it out, but then again the boy did have a lot on his mind and the Doctor couldn't blame him. If it were true, then he was glad that he'd worked it out instead of Tails.

He gulped as he made his way back over to his notepad and began reading through his notes again, adding in the latest things that Amy said.

"When you had that fit in the hospital, that wasn't your injury was it?" Doctor Wise whispered sadly before turning back to stare at Amy. She started crying again and Doctor Wise made his way back over to her, placing a hand on her head.

She traced her lips again as tears stained her cheeks. "So cold. The transfer…so cold."

Doctor Wise analysed her actions carefully, every new word she uttered made him more confident that his theory was correct. He thought it was strange how she had healed so quickly but he never imagined that this could be the reason. He couldn't believe this had happened and what would have to happen next. He continued staring at Amy as his heart ached with sorrow. During her time at hospital, he had grown to like the girl. It was such an unfortunate shame.

A knock on the door made both Amy and Doctor Wise jump before Tails opened it and peered inside.

"Is everything ok?" Tails asked as he lurked awkwardly in the doorway.

"Yeah, I was just going to put Amy to sleep, then I'll come down and talk to you." Doctor Wise smiled reassuringly.

Tails nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

Doctor Wise turned towards his medical bag and began rummaging through. His picked out a sleeping drug and filled a needle with the liquid before making his way towards Amy.

"This won't hurt a bit." He comforted her as she gazed at the needle in confusion. "This is to help you and everyone else."

She didn't resist as he inserted the needle into her arm. The drug took affect straight away as her eyes began to droop and her body began to sleepily relax. Her eyes gently fluttered closed and her breathing slowed as she fell asleep on the floor against the wall. Doctor Wise picked her up as carefully as he could and placed her down on her bed before walking back over to his medical kit.

"It's ok Amy, I'll make this as painless as possible. You won't feel a thing. You'll be at peace and there's a good chance that Dark Sonic will be weakened and placed at a disadvantage." Doctor Wise sighed as he shakily filled a new needle with a different substance. "A simple overdose. That's all it'll be."

He made his way over to Amy, stroked one of her quills with his free hand and smiled sadly at her peaceful looking expression.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way." He brought the needle towards her arm when a sudden noise above his head made him freeze.

"And what do you think _you're _doing?"

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	20. More Questions Than Answers

**Hey everyone and thanks for the awesome reviews. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**20: More Questions Than Answers**

Faster than Doctor Wise could blink, the needle was snatched out of his hand by the creature above him. Dark Sonic floated down, roughly pushing Doctor Wise away from Amy. His shoes clicked as he landed on the hard wood floor as he inspected the needle in his hand and blocked Amy from view. The dark mist that surrounded him, blocked all light from entering the room, giving the illusion they were in a supernatural realm. His white eyes glowed ominously as he tapped his foot, waiting for the Doctor to answer his question.

"You still haven't answered my question." Dark Sonic reminded, his voice dripping with restrained anger.

"You were in the hospital that night weren't you?" Doctor Wise accused and Dark Sonic smirked in response. "You were the reason why Amy starting becoming hysterical, the reason her sanity keeps slipping now. It was all you. I know what you've done to her."

Dark Sonic chuckled. "Oh?"

Doctor Wise glared at him. "But how did you get here now? How did you know? I put her to sleep."

Dark Sonic's smirk faded into an expression of offense. "Do you think I'm stupid? I knew what you were going to do the second I knew you'd worked it out. I'm certain that whatever is in this needle is no safe drug."

"I was doing the young lady a favour." Doctor Wise snapped. "What you've done to her…how could you?"

"And you think I wanted that for her?" Dark Sonic growled out as he crushed the needle in his grip, pieces of plastic and liquid flew out in random directions. The Doctor looked hopelessly at the broken pieces as he'd realised he's lost his chance. Dark Sonic was going to win now. This was the end.

"Something is telling me that you're seriously misunderstanding my motives." Dark Sonic's smirk returned once he saw the hopeless look on the Doctor's face. He reached his hand back to gently caress one of Amy's quills as she slept and Doctor Wise took a step forward.

"Get your hands off her." He hissed.

"Why should I? Amy loves me and she's been very useful these last few days without even realising." Dark Sonic explained as his white eyes gleamed with victory.

"You evil monster."

"Is that what I am?" Dark Sonic challenged, folding his arms across his chest. "But still, you tried to kill Amy and interrupted my search; that will not go unpunished."

Doctor Wise's eyes widened in panic as Dark Sonic appeared in front of him within a nanosecond. Dark Sonic's hands snaked around his throat and constricted.

"Sorry Doctor, but I can't exactly have you reveal anything now, can I?"

Doctor Wise remained locked in his coils, unable to scream for help with only quiet choking sounds being the only noise he could make. Dark Sonic just watched emotionless as Doctor Wise's eyes began to close. The dark hedgehog realised him, dropping the Doctor's unconscious body like an unwanted sack. He stared at the body lying at his feet before looking up and listening to see if anyone was coming up to investigate. He could hear Tails and Knuckles talking about the master emerald, but no sign of anyone coming up the stairs.

His ear twitched as he heard Amy stirring in her sleep behind him. She fidgeted around restlessly before her eyes opened and she moaned groggily as her arm ached and her head felt dizzy. She sat up and soon her eyes locked on the dark figure in front of her bed.

"S-Sonic?" She gasped out in her confused, sleepy state.

The figure turned around to face her and Amy gasped at the glowing white eyes that pierced right through her. His quills pointed upwards, his hands were balled into tight fists and a dark mist flickered off him like a dark fire.

Her scream of terror became trapped though as a hand suddenly clasped over her mouth and her arms were pinned above her head on the bed. She tried to thrash her way free but the creature was too strong and only clung on tighter, making any movement harder. She pulled her legs up to kick her attacker, but for all her effort, he might as well have been made of titanium.

"Sssh, Amy, it's just me, Sonic." His voice was gentle and Amy whimpered into his hand. She wanted to say that he was lying, that he wasn't Sonic. This Sonic looked evil and dangerous. Nothing like the heroic figure she had fallen in love with.

He loomed over her and his breath tickled her face. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to find anything that could help her escape when she spied the body of Doctor Wise on the floor. Dark Sonic once again caught her screams which became muffled by his hand on her mouth.

"Don't worry, he's not dead – yet." Dark Sonic whispered into her ear bitterly.

Amy went limp with defeat in his grip. She trembled as she realised that this is what she had done to him. Through her selfishness, she had turned Sonic into a monster. What was he doing in her room in the first place? Was he planning to kill her? Maybe she deserved it after what she had done to him. An eye for an eye.

Dark Sonic chuckled once he realise that Amy wasn't going to fight back anymore.

"You know, I think this is the first conversation we've had where you've actually been sane." He spoke casually, as if this was a normal situation. Amy had no idea what he meant. What did he mean sane? These past few days had been a blur to her.

Dark Sonic sighed. "I suppose it's my fault though…but right now, it's worth it. I'm sorry Amy. I didn't mean for this to happen to you."

Amy whimpered in confusion.

"But it looks like you used the last of it fighting off that sleeping drug. So just hold still." Dark Sonic ordered as he tightened he loosened his grip slightly.

Amy began thrashing around again, not wanting to stick around to find out what he meant.

"Oh come on Amy," He scolded, "You should know how this goes by now. I need to make the transfer."

Amy thanked her lucky stars as the door suddenly opened and Tails stepped in. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Dark Sonic pinning Amy down.

"AMY!" Tails yelled in fright. "Let her go you monster!"

"Long time no see Tails." Dark Sonic greeted the young fox who glared at him from the doorway, not daring to make any sudden movements. "Is that any way to greet me? Your best friend?"

"You're not my best friend. Sonic was." Tails growled out through clenched teeth as Dark Sonic pushed his buttons.

"But I am Sonic." Dark Sonic smiled, gently releasing Amy who quickly got up and ran behind Tails without a second thought.

Tails stared at Dark Sonic in confusion. "You're letting her go? Just like that?"

Dark Sonic merely shrugged. "I can come back for her anytime I want."

"So it _is _you who's been making her insane."

Amy gasped. "What are you talking about?"

Tails then looked down and shrieked when he saw Doctor Wise lying limply on the floor. Dark Sonic walked towards the unconscious body, kicking it with disgust while Tails and Amy trembled.

"What have you done?" Tails demanded.

"He had it coming." Dark Sonic answered, his body beginning to shake with anger. "He tried to kill Amy."

Tails narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

Dark Sonic just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Believe what you want to believe. But I also couldn't have him spoiling mine and Amy's little secret."

"What secret?" Amy asked suspiciously as she peeked around Tails. "What have you done to me?!"

Dark Sonic winked at her and tapped the side of his head while Amy stared at him in horrified confusion. What did he mean?

"I'll never trust you!" Tails yelled. "You're not Sonic. You're just some cruel and evil monster that took his body!"

"Oh, I'm the monster am I?" Dark Sonic chuckled. "Sooner or later, I'll be all you'll have. Just like when we were little kids, remember? How nobody else wanted anything to do you?"

"Shut up!" Tails yelled.

"Please Sonic, just stop all of this and switch back." Amy begged as she began crying. Why was Sonic behaving this way? Treating his friend so horribly and clearly he was using her for something. She just didn't know what.

"NO!" Dark Sonic barked out making them both jump. "There's still so much to do first."

The dark hedgehog abruptly turned and grabbed hold of Doctor Wise before causing them both to fade out of the room. Amy and Tails remained standing there in a state of shock and fear. The dark mist that surrounded him vanished with him, allowing light to enter the room again. The sun finally broke through the thick morning mist, shining beams of light into the room, warming the front of their bodies.

Amy sighed and walked over to her window to peer out with her back to Tails. She folded her arms over her chest as she glared down at the garden below her and watched two blue and pink flickies happily singing together in a nest. The world outside seemed to be in a complete juxtaposition to what was going on inside Amy. Everything around her seemed so ordinary now, but inside she felt lost, confused and guilty. She was the cause of this.

"This is all my fault." Amy closed her eyes as she voiced her thoughts.

Tails gasped behind her. "What are you talking about?"

"If I hadn't been such an idiot and started this whole double agent business, then Doctor Eggman would never have been able to carry out his plan."

Tails sighed and made his way over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he reached her. "How were you to know that all of this would happen? It's not your fault Amy. If it's anyone's fault, it's Eggman. He wanted world domination again and he thought he could use Sonic to get it, but obviously he didn't think that part of his plan through well enough."

Amy turned to face Tails and gripped his upper arms in her hands, staring into his eyes as she fought back tears. "What's wrong with me Tails? Dark Sonic said things to me. Things that I don't understand. What's he done to me?"

"I-I don't know Amy." Tails murmured in defeat. "I wish I knew, I really do."

The tears finally broke free of Amy's eyes and began trailing down her cheeks as she let go of Tails' arms.

"What did he say to you?"

Amy sniffed as she tried to wipe the tears away and remain strong.

"He said that it was the first conversation we'd had that I was sane for. That he needed to do a transfer." She explained, not sure if what she was saying meant anything.

"Transfer. That word again." Tails narrowed his blue eyes in thought.

"What does he mean?"

"I don't know." He admitted, feeling ashamed at his lack of knowledge. "Let's head downstairs."

Amy nodded and followed him into the living room where Vanilla was sat knitting in the corner and Knuckles was sat with his leg propped up on the couch, flicking through TV channels. Cream's humming from the kitchen could be heard as the aroma of freshly baked cakes filled the room.

"Well look who's down and sane." Knuckles muttered as he caught sight of Amy before letting his gaze drift back to the TV.

"What?" Amy asked, panicking slightly. Knuckles was in on it too?

"Amy," Tails began questioning, "How much do you remember?"

Amy searched through her brain and began panicking even more as most of her memories of the past few days appeared blurred.

"I don't know." Amy shrieked, placing her hands on her head in alarm. "Everything's one big blur."

"Ok ok, don't panic." Tails tried to reassure her. "The thing is, it looks like Dark Sonic's been doing something to you and it made you have periods of insanity."

"W-what?"

"Yeah, well, more insane that normal." Knuckles mumbled before cringing back slightly as Vanilla shot him a glare.

"It's ok though dear." Vanilla placed her knitting down on her lap. "We made sure nothing happened to you."

"But I'm so scared. I want to know what he's done to me."

"We all do." Tails sighed in frustration.

"By the way, what was going on up there? I thought Doctor Wise was with you?" Knuckles asked.

"Dark Sonic kidnapped him." Tails explained, his expression morphing into anger.

"What?!" Knuckles snapped. "That evil fur ball, first the master emerald and now this? When I get my hands on him!"

"He needs to be stopped as soon as possible." Tails agreed.

Amy's eyes widened. "Hold up, Sonic said that he was stopping Doctor Wise from killing me."

"Amy, he's lying." Tails insisted.

"Why would Doctor Wise want to kill you?" Knuckles asked in confusion.

"Exactly!" Tails agreed with Knuckles again. "This is just one of Dark Sonic's schemes."

Amy glared at Tails, shocked at his words. "How could you say that? You're talking about him as if he's as bad as Doctor Eggman! Deep down, I know Sonic is in there."

"Then why is he doing this?" Tails suddenly turned on her. "Sonic is dead Amy. Eggman killed him with that weapon and all that's left is the negative embodiment of chaos. Have you forgotten that he tried to kill you? That he's hurt and killed many others? That he's torturing you with insanity right now?"

"He's not in his right mind." Amy whimpered. Never in her life had she seen Tails so angry and bitter. It was so unlike him. She could understand that the stress of everything was getting to him, but he didn't have to take it out on her, or lose hope completely.

"There has to be a cure." Amy added. "We always manage to fight back and win. We _will _get Sonic back."

Tails sighed, the anger fading from his face.

"You're clutching at straws Amy. Sonic is gone. Replaced by nothing but evil, hatred and rage. If Sonic was still in there, he would've managed changed back by now."

"_Dark Sonic was once again spotted in downtown Station Square earlier this morning."_

The sound of the news anchor interrupted their argument and they all turned to face the TV.

"_The details are unclear, but it seems he attacked GUN soldiers unprovoked and citizens are once again being urged to stay indoors. Many people have now been reported missing while bodies are also being found, many of them shot. GUN still refuse to make any further statements on the situation and simply urge people not to approach Dark Sonic or his friends."_

"Great." Knuckles grunted. "Now they're deciding to blame us too? What a joke."

"This is dreadful." Vanilla gasped, placing a hand on her chest.

Amy sighed and turned to gaze out of the window as she thought about Dark Sonic. She shuddered as she could still feel the ghost of his hand on her wrists. Her friends had said she's gone insane these past few days. So why wasn't she having an episode of it now? None of this was making any sense to her. Was Sonic just merely insane too? Was the power too much for him? What if…what if Dark Sonic was right about Doctor Wise trying to kill her? The idea didn't make any sense as she couldn't think of any reason why he would want to kill her. Dark Sonic had said that she was being useful to him. In what way could he possibly mean?

She turned to stare back at her friends who were discussing options amongst each other. What if Amy was unknowingly doing something that was putting her friends in danger? She felt sick at the thought, but she couldn't find any evidence for it.

No matter what though, she was going to figure it out. She knew that the real Sonic was still in there somewhere and no matter what, with or without her friends' help, she was going to get him back.

.

Rouge the Bat placed her hands over her ears to help block out the constant crying and shouting of the other inmates. Being locked up in this small, horrible cell was probably the lowest moment of her life. She was going crazy in there.

"Would room service be too much to ask for?" Rouge yelled at the thick metal door. She'd tried kicking it down multiple times, but she just wasn't strong enough.

She couldn't believe that GUN had the nerve to arrest her. They'd questioned her relentlessly about her species, along with her mission with Shadow and Amy and project darkness. The only reasons she was being kept alive was because she had information they viewed as necessary. She had no idea what was going on in the outside world right now. Shadow had been missing for a while now and Rouge was beginning to lose hope of ever being rescued.

A key clicking in the lock caught her attention and she released her hold on her ears, staring hopefully at the door. At last, something was happening. The door opened to reveal the Lieutenant with a line of GUN soldiers behind him.

"Room service ma'am." The Lieutenant smirked and Rouge glared at him.

"I had expected five star treatment." Rouge retorted, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, your usefulness is complete." The Lieutenant announced, ignoring her last comment.

"Oh good, so I can go now?"

"Oh you'll be leaving alright." The Lieutenant stepped to one side. The rest of the GUN soldiers aimed their guns at her and Rouge gasped, stepping back in alarm.

"Leaving this world that is."

"Chaos spear!"

The bolt of yellow energy narrowly missed the startled GUN soldiers, crashing into the door. The shock wave of the energy knocked everyone over and Shadow the Hedgehog leapt over the heads of the GUN soldiers towards Rouge.

"I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." She winked. "Ah!" She screamed as Shadow yanked her out of the cell and passed the recovering bodies of the soldiers.

"Don't let them escape!" The Lieutenant ordered and gun fire immediately sounded behind them.

Rouge pulled her arm free and began flying above Shadow as he skated along the ground of the base. They wove in and out of the prison cell blocks, the GUN soldiers falling further and further behind as they couldn't keep up.

Shadow shot a chaos spear at an air vent and immediately dived into it, closely followed by Rouge. They climbed upwards and began crawling through, no sign of the soldiers knowing where they were yet.

"Well isn't this cosy." Rouge grinned. "So where have you been all this time?"

"I'll explain later." Shadow grunted back and Rouge sighed.

"You're not exactly the most pleasant person to have a conversation with are you?"

"Be quiet." Shadow hissed back at her. "Or we'll get caught."

"How did you know where I was?" Rouge whispered.

"GUN agents are going undercover on the streets all over the world and murdering anthros. I rescued one and beat the man until he revealed what was going on within GUN. He admitted that you'd been arrested. I knew that you would've been kept alive until this point for information" Shadow explained.

"So GUN have been murdering people like us in the streets?"

"Yes." Shadow replied. "They fear us."

They both froze when they heard two voices outside the air vent. They listened hard as they heard two soldiers walking by.

"So we get to attack Sonic's friends tonight?" One soldier asked excitedly.

"Yeah and then we can use them to finally defeat Dark Sonic." The other responded. "And we can capture all of those traitors who joined Dark Sonic."

"Those cowards make me sick."

Their voices faded as they walked further away and Rouge gasped as she registered the information.

"We have to get out there and warn them."

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	21. Divide And Conquer

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**21: Divide And Conquer **

"Come on, Amy. Come away from the window and try some of my cookies." Cream twisted around on the couch to give Amy her best pleading look. Amy just sighed and remained standing by the window, unable to shake Dark Sonic's image from her mind. She could feel everyone's eyes on her back and it was frustrating her. She knew what they were waiting for. They were waiting for another mad moment. Looking at her as if she was a wild animal that would go berserk and attack them at any second.

She didn't blame them though. Frustratingly searching through her memories, she couldn't find any recollection of the past few days and what had happened. The last clear memory that she had was talking to Eggman before being knocked out cold. That and a strange dark mist afterwards. A dream perhaps? The mist was so similar to Dark Sonic's though. What had he done to her?

Everyone jumped as the front door was suddenly knocked off its hinges. Shadow and Rouge burst into the room urgently as everyone stared at them with wide eyes.

"Shadow? Rouge?" Tails questioned. "What's going on?"

"You've all got to get out of here." Rouge explained straight away, slamming her hands down on the back of the couch. Everyone continued to stare at them in confusion.

"GUN are on their way over here to attack." Shadow explained a little more calmly, but with a hint of urgency still present in his tone.

"Oh no!" Cream cried out.

"What? Why?" Knuckles demanded angrily. "Did you do something?"

"The whole thing is complicated, but basically they're trying to exterminate every anthro on the planet as they believe that we're all just as powerful as Dark Sonic and that we want to take over the world." Rouge folded her arms and frowned. "They've turned into a bunch of scared little cry-babies because they can't capture Dark Sonic."

"What are we going to do?" Vanilla gasped. "Where will we go?"

"We'll have to hide out somewhere, we can't fight back; we'll be completely outnumbered." Tails said worriedly.

"Just let them try and kill me." Knuckles growled.

"Honey, you can barely walk, let alone fight men with weapons." Rouge responded sassily making Knuckles glare at her.

Amy shook her head and tuned them all out as she continued to stare out the window. This whole thing was stupid. Why would GUN go after all the anthros? Now they were making it that much harder to get Sonic back. There had to be a way to get him back.

"Amy?" She heard Tails call her name and she quickly turned around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear the plan?" He asked before acknowledging her blank facial expression and explaining. "Rouge is going to fly off with Knuckles while Shadow will lead the rest of us to safety on the ground. We need to stick together."

Amy nodded, passively going along with the plan, her mind wandering back to Sonic and how they could possibly get him back. Tails said some other things to her while she nodded, pretending she was listening. Vanilla tried to comfort a scared Cream while Shadow issued the last of his orders to the group before they all turned to head out of the door.

Rouge picked Knuckles up and quickly flew off into the distance with him while Amy followed the others as Shadow lead them through the forest. While she tried to remember the past few days, Amy tripped a few times and glared at the back of Shadow's head when he let out an annoyed sigh. Tails shot her a questioning look, but she waved him off as she willed the memories to come flooding back into her brain. Maybe they could provide the answers. She'd have to talk to Tails soon if her memory didn't come back on its own.

"Amy, look out!" Tails yelled as Amy suddenly felt herself being pushed to the side, the sound of gunfire filling the air.

"Thanks." Amy gasped out as they both looked up to see GUN soldiers running at them from the distance, ducking behind trees and aiming their weapons at them, led by a human male with purple hair who Amy didn't recognise.

"Ah, Shadow and Rouge." The man sneered. "I had a feeling it was you two who gave us away."

"Why are you doing this?" Tails shouted as Amy held onto his hand tightly in fear.

"Because you rodents are too powerful for your own good." The man snapped, his eyes wide with the lust for their deaths.

"I suggest you run."

Everyone turned to Shadow at the sound of his voice as he began to glow red. They took the hint straight away and quickly got up. Tails began leading the way with Amy, Cream and Vanilla following. They heard the explosion behind them, but didn't dare look back and kept on running.

"What about Mr Shadow?" Cream asked as she clung to her mother's hand.

"He can take care of himself." Tails replied as the sound of gunfire echoed around the forest behind them. A bullet narrowly shot past Tails' ear, lodging itself into a tree. Tails gulped and tried to pick up his pace. Amy's heart thudded in her chest as she heard the sound of pursuit behind them and she panted as her lungs began to burn from so much running. She could hear Shadow shouting in the distance, clearly outnumbered and now that the GUN soldiers seemed to have scattered, it was becoming harder for him to wipe them all out.

They burst out of the trees and into a small clearing full of weeds and long uncut grass. The thorns from the weeds pierced through Amy's fur and skin as she ran, but she ignored the pain and focused on following Tails until his legs got tangled in some long roots and he fell to the floor.

"Tails!" Amy skidded to a stop and ran back for him. She screamed and halted in her tracks as a GUN solider had caught up and yanked Tails off the ground by one of his tails.

"Let him go!" Amy ordered as she summoned her hammer and pointed it at the soldier. She gasped and froze however when the solider pointed his gun at the young fox's head.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you. I heard this boy is a genius. It would be such a waste if I blew his brains out, wouldn't it?" The soldier teased cruelly as Tails shook with fear.

Amy lowered her hammer slightly, panic in her green eyes as she stared at the gun, millimetres from Tails' head.

"Such a good girl." The solider patronised her as he placed his finger on the trigger.

"NO!" Tails thrashed about, pulling his arms in front of his head. He heard Amy scream as he felt himself being dropped to the floor. He managed to cushion his fall slightly with his hands before he looked up to see what had happened. Gasping in horror, he registered Dark Sonic hovering above him, holding the solider by the collar of his uniform who began flailing about wildly, begging for help.

"You picked the wrong people to mess with." Dark Sonic hissed with a rage filled expression. The soldier began sweating and panting in fear as he looked away from the glowing white eyes.

"I-I'm sorry. J-Just p-please. Let me g-go." He begged.

Dark Sonic bared his teeth, leaning closer to the soldier. "I don't think so." Moving his hands up, Dark Sonic jolted his wrists, easily snapped the soldier's neck as if it were nothing more than a thin tooth pick. Amy and Tails screamed as the body hit the floor and Dark Sonic turned to face them. He stared at them for a few moments before he ear twitched at the sound of gunfire. Bullets began bouncing off his body as the GUN soldiers drew closer, some of them screaming as Shadow managed to attack them.

Amy and Tails remained frozen in place, not daring to move an inch in case of provoking Dark Sonic's attack. Dark Sonic turned his attention away from them and towards the GUN soldiers running up to them who had escaped the forest and were now in the meadow with them.

Shaking, Amy moved her eyes down to the body that was lying limp on the ground in an unnatural heap. The neck twisted at an odd angle, the eyes still wide open, filled with fear even in death at the sight before him the moment he died. Sonic had done that. No. Not Sonic. The monster that was in possession of him.

Her head whipped around to stare at Tails; his blue eyes were wide before narrowing. She could practically see something clicking into place in that large, smart brain of his.

"He saved us." Tails mumbled to himself. "He saved us before and he's done it again."

"Tails?" Amy questioned before screaming as a group of GUN soldiers began shooting at them.

"Let's get out of here!" Tails yelled over the loud gunfire, grabbing hold of her arm to pull her away.

They zigzagged through the meadow, avoiding the bullets being shot at them, finally managing to catch up to Cream and Vanilla. Some soldiers screamed behind them as Dark Sonic got hold of them. Amy didn't dare turn around, afraid of what he could be doing to them and wondered if they were next. Perhaps he was merely getting the soldiers out of the way first so he could spend extra time torturing them. They couldn't outrun Sonic when he was normal so they had no hope of outrunning him when he had his dark powers.

Amy continued tripping over roots and weeds, the thick green forest becoming visible again in the distance. Hopefully they could lose them in there. That hope was short lived though, as another group of GUN soldiers peered around from behind the trees, pointing their weapons at the four of them. They immediately halted in their tracks just as the man with purple hair stepped out from the side, in front of them.

"Enough games." He glared at them with eyes that seemed to be make out of stone.

Dark Sonic dropped down in front of them, landing in a crouched position, experiencing no fatigue at all despite battling a large army of GUN soldiers. He slowly rose up, clenching his fists tightly, glaring at the soldiers in front of him.

"Thank you for coming to me Sonic. That saves me so much trouble."

"So you're the one who's been causing all this chaos?" Dark Sonic spoke, the manic edge becoming more apparent in his voice. "It looks like I'll have to do something about you."

That voice. The way he spoke. Amy knew she had heard it before this morning. She placed a hand on the side of her head as it began pounding.

"Youngest first shall we?" The Lieutenant pulled out his gun, abruptly aiming it at Cream and firing.

Tails and Amy screamed and watched in horror as Vanilla dived in the way, twisting her body and wrapping herself around her daughter, acting as a living shield. Dark Sonic turned his head around too, his white eyes also widening as the force of the shot pushed Vanilla forward causing her to fall the floor on top of Cream. Blood began oozing out of her back, staining her dress and pouring onto the weed covered ground, dripping off leaves and grass blades.

"Vanilla!" Amy screamed, placing her hands over her mouth in terror. Cream wailed underneath her mother and Dark Sonic's head snapped back around towards the Lieutenant who was smirking as he watched the scene in front of him.

"You're just making him worse!" Tails cried out to the Lieutenant who regarded Tails with confusion. Amy took off, running towards a struggling Cream who was slowly being covered in her mother's blood, and a limp Vanilla who was sprawled out protectively over Cream, even unconsciously.

She stopped in her tracks when a searing pain travelled through her body, her heart began racing and she began convulsing as she fell to the floor.

"Stop it!" She heard Tails yell over the sudden loud buzzing sound in her ears.

Pain shot all around her body as it felt like every nerve in her body was twitching rapidly and painfully. She let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony before another soldier began screaming with her. The world around her blurred as her head spun. Images formed before her eyes. Voices whispered in her ear. Finally, the dizziness and pain became too much and her eyes drifted closed.

.

"_Are you here to kill me?" Amy's voice shook as she asked the question to the dark hedgehog standing before her. _

_Dark Sonic smirked at her and folded his arms over his chest, tilting his head to one side. "Why would I save someone only to kill them afterwards?" _

_Amy's eyes widened as she gripped the covers of her bed beneath her fingers, her whole body going tense at his words. He looked down at her, his smile widened as she connected the dots in her brain. He took a step towards her and Amy instinctively leaned away as her heart pounded harder than her hammer in fear. She tried to stop herself from shaking in attempt to not look weak in front of him. _

"_I'm so sorry that I've done this to you Sonic." Amy whimpered as she tried to force back the tears. "I never meant for the mission to go that far." She sniffed, wiping the tears that were threatening to spill over with her gloved fingers. _

_Dark Sonic took another step towards her, like a predator slowly approaching its prey. Only Amy didn't notice as her head drooped in sorrow. If he did decide to kill her, she wouldn't care. She created this mess. It was only fair that Sonic took her out of the picture so she could never cause him any trouble again. The guilt weighed heavily on her chest, slowly compressing her to a pile of mush. How could she have been so thoughtless? So selfish? _

"_Ssssh," He comforted, taking another step forward, "It's not your fault. You've actually done me a favour." _

_Amy's teeth snapped together in anger and began speaking through clenched teeth. "How is _this _a favour? I've helped Eggman turn you into an evil creature." _

"_Evil? But I thought I was your hero?" His voice raised in pitch slightly, manically, like he was holding something back. He took another step forward. _

"_You are, Sonic." Amy sighed as she ran a hand through her quills and stared at the night sky outside the window. "You always will be…but not like this." _

_He took another step forward. "But why? I'm so much more powerful now. More powerful than Shadow who you seem to have grown so attached to." He growled out the last part and Amy's eyes widened slightly, not daring to look at him. Was he…? Surely not? _

"_I haven't grown attached to Shadow." Amy explained, watching the stars twinkle. "We were just…"_

_She jumped as she felt a hand on her cheek and looked up, gasping at the sight of his glowing eyes so close to hers and before she could react, his lips were pressed gently against hers. _

_._

Amy took in a huge gasp of air as she awoke in a cold sweat. She panted heavily, trying to slow down the rapid, panicked beating of her heart. Her brain felt like it was on fire as the truth from her memories burned her from the inside.

Leaping out of bed, Amy realise she was in an unfamiliar room. A base? The walls were made of bland looking metal, the polished surface reflected her slightly crazed looking appearance as her eyes darted wildly around the room. There was a small cot that she had been asleep on, some paper work in the corner with Tails' handwriting scrawled all over it. A simple square room, with a metal door that Amy feared what could be beyond. The last thing she remembered was passing out in the meadow after trying to help Vanilla. Vanilla! Amy staggered at the thought. Was she…alive? Cream's screaming and crying echoed in her brain; the sight of her sister figure in so much pain.

Swallowing her fears, Amy tip-toed towards the door and pulled the handle. It was unlocked, so she wasn't imprisoned so that was a relief. She poked her head out to see a long metal corridor, similar ones to Eggman's previous base. It _was _Eggman's previous base. Amy gasped. What was she doing here?

A few feet away, some double doors were open and she shrunk back slightly when Shadow walked passed inside the room. She could hear Shadow, Rouge and Tails talking.

"Will she be ok?" Rouge asked.

"I think so." Tails sighed, sounding incredibly tired. "The bullet didn't hit any vital organ, but she'll still need time to recover."

"What about Amy?"

"She was hit with a strong taser, so she might be a little out of it for a while."

"How long do you think we'll be safe in here?"

"Hard to say." Shadow answered.

Amy suddenly gasped once she realised what she was doing. She stepped back into the room and stared at her reflection in the metal walls before glaring at herself.

"Was that what you wanted to hear, huh?" She hissed at her reflection before turning around and running towards the stationary Tails had left in the room. Most of it was filled with notes on her condition and she quickly threw those behind her until she found a blank piece of paper. She quickly grabbed hold of a pen, bit the lid off, holding it between her teeth as she wrote her letter. Once she finished, she tossed the pen to the floor and left the letter on her bed for them to find.

She had to do this. She had to leave. Then they'd no longer be in danger. If only Doctor Wise could've finished the job. She understood his motives now.

"Why did you have to do this to me?" She whispered to her reflection, her voice cracking with sadness.

Creeping out of her room, she shot one last glance back in the direction of their voices. Satisfied that they all seemed to be ok and that Vanilla was alive, a tear trickled down her face before she turned and ran down the corridor to some place she could never bother anyone again.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	22. The Transfer

**Sorry that the breaks between chapters are becoming bigger, but I just keep getting increasingly busy. Damn real life.**

**Anyway, thank you for all of the reviews. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**22: The Transfer**

_Cold hands slipped smoothly up from her neck to her cheeks like the gentlest caress. A scream caught in her throat as he smiled down at her. Hypnotising her with those white glowing eyes like a snake charmer; never blinking, never looking away. Any minute she felt like she would follow his musical tune. _

_The beeping sound near her grew more rapid, her heart beating erratically. Ever so slowly, something she was not used to seeing him doing, he bent down, placing his lips on hers. But it didn't feel right. Using up the last amount of strength she knew she had, she reached her arms up, trying to push him away by his chest. For all the effect it had, she might have well been pushing against the strongest steel. She was engulfed by the dark mist that surrounded him as he forcibly parted her lips with his and her head began pounding with an unbearable pain. He pulled back and looked down at her as she gazed back up at him with wide eyes, fidgeting to the point where it must have looked like she was having a seizure to any onlookers. The pounding pain in her head grew worse._

_She wasn't paying attention as doctors and nurses suddenly loomed over her, poking her, examining her. Her eyes drifted closed as the pain became too much and she heard the long drawn out beep reporting the stop in her heart. _

_Now it seemed as though she was having an out of body experience. Watching her body from the corner of the room, hidden from the view of anyone else. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tails and Knuckles being pushed out of the room by a nurse. Doctors were performing CPR and after what felt like eternity, the monitor signalled the re-start of her heart. So why didn't she feel like she was back in her own body? _

_Without her permission, her body seemed to turn. The dark mist around her danced with her movement. _

_._

Amy had no idea where she was going. In fact, she had no idea where she even was now. The rocks and flora around her were very unfamiliar and the sky was growing ever darker as night approached. Soon, she wouldn't be able to see a thing. She was lost in the wilderness. But still, that was better than staying there and placing her friends in danger.

Anything was better than that.

She trudged on relentlessly even though her aching legs were begging her to stop and rest. Her breath was coming out in puffs of steam in front of her face as the temperature began to drop. Looking up, she spotted a vantage point on a rock poking out from the ground. Despite her aching body, she made the climb and stood up tall to take in the view. A large forest was spread out in front of her for miles. She could hear nocturnal creatures stirring from their daylong sleep. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the vast collection of stars dotted every inch of the sky. There was no sign of civilisation, but Amy figured that it was a good thing.

Amy hummed to herself in thought as she tried to figure out where to head next. Behind her was a tall mountain range and in front of her was a thick forest. Deciding that she had a better chance in the forest, she turned around to jump down when a dark spot caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Slowly, she turned her head, hoping that her mind was merely playing tricks on her.

No such luck.

In the distance, standing on top of a ledge poking out from the mountain, looking straight down at her, was Dark Sonic. She froze in fear as he stood there, seemingly observing her curiously. Amy couldn't make out his facial features from this distance, but the glowing white eyes were staring straight at her, he too not moving an inch.

The staring contest seemed to last for an eternity with Amy not daring to move in fear of provoking him. It turned out, she didn't even need to do that as she let out a loud yelp as Dark Sonic appeared to materialise in front of her with his speed. A few birds loudly flew out from the forest as her yell of fear echoed through the area, but Dark Sonic didn't react as he stared at her blankly.

Amy swallowed as she decided to say something. "You see what you've done to me? I have to leave my friends now because of you."

Dark Sonic let out one small chuckle without a trace of a smile on his face, his body jumped slightly at the action before he tilted his head slightly.

"I don't remember ever telling you to leave." He replied, his voice still contained that manic edge that sent shivers down Amy's spine.

"No, but I had to." Amy glared at him, her fear of him being replaced by anger. "Are you happy with what you've done to me?"

"No."

That answer caught Amy off guard as she stumbled back slightly, nearly falling off the rock, but managed to catch her balance in time.

"Please Amy, it was an accident." Dark Sonic's face remained expressionless as Amy's eyes widened in horror.

"An accident?!" She roared. "Our minds are stuck together! You've used me to spy on all our friends and I've seen the horrors of what you have committed! You made me go insane!"

"I know." Dark Sonic responded in a sharper tone than before, taking a step towards her. "I had no idea that it would happen."

Amy's fear returned slightly as he grew closer, but tried her best to repress it. "So what exactly happened then? I thought you wanted to kill me!"

Dark Sonic regarded her for a few seconds before speaking. "I thought about killing you – at first. I was under the impression that you were working for _Eggman._"He growled his name. "But when I found you in that cell, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then that night, I came to the hospital and you were dying and I just couldn't bear the thought. So I transferred some of my energy into you, to heal your head wound. I had to keep coming back as you used a lot of it up in the healing process. I couldn't have you relapsing; you're head wound was so traumatic."

"The kiss." Amy gasped.

"Yes." Dark Sonic confirmed. "I realised the connection when I began seeing into your dreams while you were in a coma. I'm not fond of you being able to see into my mind, but it's certainly helped being able to see into yours."

Amy gasped as she stared down at the ground, unable to look at his face any longer. Then something clicked into place in her brain.

"So that's why Doctor Wise tried to kill me! He figured it out!"

Dark Sonic's face twisted into a murderous frown at the mention of his name. "Do not speak of that." He growled out harshly and Amy glared at him.

"Why didn't you let him do the job?"

"As I've said before, why would I let my hard work to keep someone alive go to waste? Plus, you've allowed me to keep tabs on the others in case they wanted to try anything clever."

"Y-you hurt Knuckles. And Shadow, I saw you try to kill Shadow. Why would you do all this?" Amy choked she couldn't keep in the tears anymore. "What about Doctor Wise?" The sudden bright moonlight casted an enigmatic shadow on the left side of his body, making it appear darker and his eyes glowed brighter.

"I'm only doing what I have to do." Dark Sonic snarled, glaring menacingly.

"You don't have to do anything!" Amy's screaming pleas echoed through the environment. "Just switch back and come home."

"I've already told you; I'm not giving this power up, not now, not ever."

Amy sighed in frustration. "I can't believe I've done this to you."

Dark Sonic just stared at her.

"Why did you save me? I didn't deserve it." She whimpered, burying her face in her hands as she tried as hard as possible not to begin sobbing right in front of him.

Dark Sonic was silent for a while. He reached up and yanked Amy's hands away from her face, pulling her forward slightly as he gripped her wrists before he finally spoke. "Did it ever occur to you that I might care about you?"

"What?" Amy gasped, not expecting that answer as she yanked her wrists free.

Dark Sonic continued to stare at her, his face becoming an expressionless mask as his hands twitched slightly. Amy stared back with wonder.

"Y-You're not all gone are you? You can be cured!" Amy yelled excitedly before making her way forwards to jump off the rock. "I have to find my way back and find Tails!"

Rough hands on her waist stopped her in her tracks and she let out a panicked yelp as Dark Sonic pinned her against him, pressing her arms to her side and making movement impossible. She tried to shake herself out, but his grip was like steel, completely unbreakable.

"What are you doing?" Amy gasped out in fear. "Let me go!"

Dark Sonic placed his chin on her shoulder and let out a small chuckle.

"Stopping you from stopping me, now don't make this harder than it needs to be." He ordered, threateningly as his grip on her tightened.

Amy's terrified screams filled the valley as Dark Sonic flew off with her in his arms.

.

"Gone?! What do you mean gone?!" Knuckles yelled as Tails remained standing in the doorway, his face pale and mortified as he held a note in his hand.

"She's run away." Tails gulped as he clutched the note tighter in his hand.

"This is ridiculous." Rouge sneered. "Why would she just leave?"

Tails sighed. "Because she thought she was protecting us. It all makes sense now."

Shadow folded his arms as he observed from the corner of the large office in Eggman's base. "Why would she think such a thing?"

"I've finally figured out what's wrong with her and it looks like she did too: Amy and Dark Sonic are linked. Amy has said so in this letter." Tails explained, his voice full of sorrow.

Knuckles snatched the note off him and began reading.

_I'm so sorry guys. I have to get out of here. Our minds are linked and he sees everything I see. I can't betray you like this. Not again. _

_Don't follow me. This is for the best. _

_I'm sorry._

_~ Amy_

Knuckles' eyes widened as he lowered the note in shock.

"Linked?" Rouge mumbled in confusion.

"That's what Amy was talking about when she mentioned the transfer. That's why Doctor Wise wanted to kill her. Dark Sonic has been spying on us through her eyes. It worked both ways too. Amy was linked to his mind and could see everything he saw. Doctor Wise wanted to prevent that; he could see the effect it was having on Amy. He thought he was doing the right thing by ending her suffering and protecting us in the process."

Knuckles and Rouge gasped while Shadow remained motionless and quiet as usual.

"But…how did this happen?" Knuckles questioned.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm pretty sure it started at the hospital. There should have been no way Amy could've survived those injuries. The doctors said so themselves that it was a miracle. Dark Sonic transferred some of his negative chaos energy into her to heal her and it's buried itself into her mind, allowing their minds to become one. But it looks like Amy couldn't handle his thoughts and the things she could see him doing. The corruption of the dark energy made her go insane. Her ramblings were what she could see Dark Sonic doing, everything he was planning to do." Tails explained.

"Creepy." Rouge shuddered.

"How are we going to stop this? We have to get Amy." Knuckles said and he flicked his wrist communicator to talk to her.

"No, you mustn't." Tails ordered, running over to cover Knuckles' communicator to prevent him from doing anything. "He knows everything she knows remember."

"We can't just leave her out there alone!" Knuckles snapped.

"I know and that's the last thing I want, but if Dark Sonic knows what we know, then it puts us at a disadvantage and we'll never fix this problem." Tails sighed as he leaned back against the metal wall.

"I'd like to punch that evil Dark Sonic until all that energy is leaking out of his body." Knuckles growled out as he kicked the edge of Eggman's old desk with his good leg. "Especially for doing this to me and stealing the master emerald."

"_Power is enriched by the heart." _Tails breathed as he remembered one of Amy's insane episodes.

"Yeah didn't Amy spout that once?"

Tails nodded. "She did. The master emerald…of course!"

"Of course what?" Knuckles demanded. "We don't all have IQs of 300."

"Some closer to it than others." Rouge snickered quietly and Knuckles turned to glare at her.

"Shadow, you were attacked by Dark Sonic, what happened?" Tails faced Shadow who had been quietly observing them. His ears perked up slightly when Tails addressed him.

"We fought and he rambled nonsense about how great his new powers were, how I had led Amy astray, you're going to join him and proceeded to taunt me about his inside knowledge based on his connection with Amy. At least his pitiful jokes make sense now." He grumbled.

"How did you escape?" Rouge asked eagerly. "You promised that you'd tell me."

"I'm actually unsure of what happened exactly." Shadow huffed in confusion. "We were fighting and I genuinely thought he was going to destroy me until I said I was just trying to help people by teaming up with Amy. Then he seemed to stop and announced that he was letting me go. I tried to trail him for a while and find some way of defeating him and that's when I heard the news that Rouge had been arrested and what GUN were doing."

Tails smiled slightly as he pushed himself of the wall and walked into the centre of everybody, beginning to pace slightly, placing his hand on his chin in thought.

"It's all starting to make sense now." Tails mumbled and the three of them exchanged glances.

"We're not mind readers, hun," Rouge sighed, "You have to tell us what you're thinking."

"That's why he stole the master emerald, he didn't want it for power like I originally suspected." Tails thought aloud as he stopped pacing and stared straight ahead of him at the door. "That's why Amy was singing about it those few times. He stole it because he knew that I would eventually figure it out."

Knuckles growled, still feeling confused. "Figure what out?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tails gasped out and the others frowned at him in frustration. "Dark Sonic isn't a separate entity. Essentially he is Sonic, his inner emotions that are repressed. We all have them. The negative chaos energy didn't turn him evil per say, it just made him lose control of his emotions and desires; they bubbled to the surface to the point of insanity. It's like the opposite of his super form. But he's still there deep down. That's why he spared me. That's why he spared Shadow when he realised his good intentions. He's still there underneath."

"But still, what does this have to do with my emerald?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles glared at her in warning. "Watch it bat girl."

"He stole it because he knew I'd soon come up with a plan to use it and switch off his powers."

Knuckles and Rouge gasped while Shadow's eye widened slightly.

"He's been trying to make sure that he's one step ahead of us." Tails added.

"I never knew that faker could be so smart." Shadow sneered.

"So that's it then? We just find where he's hidden the master emerald and Knucklehead switches it off? Sounds simple enough." Rouge shrugged happily.

Tails froze. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He muttered nervously.

"Yeah, we'll have to find it first." Knuckles smirked. "Good thing you have me."

"That's not it." Tails shook his head as he began to look even more panicky than before.

"Then what?"

Tails took a deep shaky breath. "It's actually quite outstanding that Amy is still alive with her mind connected with Sonic's. Stuff like that just isn't supposed to happen; her mind should have been ripped to shreds, unable to support the link to such a powerful creature as Dark Sonic. If that energy and link is suddenly ripped from her when the energy leaves Dark Sonic…that energy that was in her brain, that was fixing her brain injury…she could relapse to the stage before the energy was there now that's not there acting as a life support."

Knuckles and Rouge gasped.

"You don't mean…?" Knuckles mumbled in shock.

"There's a chance it could kill Amy."

* * *

**This chapter is shorter, I know, I'm sorry. The next one will be longer, don't worry. Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	23. Sacrifices Must Be Made

***coughs awkwardly* Errr, yeah, I kinda took a while to upload this, didn't I? Sorry about that. I've just been so stressed with college work and my personal life that often the small requests for Fated Lovers were the only things I had time to do. And even these past few days, I haven't even had time to write them. I have a bit of a headache right now, but the show must go on. So I just hope this chapter turns out ok. **

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews. I reached over 200! Wow, thank you all so much for the support!**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**23: Sacrifices Must Be Made**

The room was silent as everyone processed what Tails had just said. No matter how hard they tried, the terrifying information just didn't seem to sink in. Over and over they repeated his words in their heads while Tails stood looking miserable at the harsh truth of the situation they were in. How could he do it? To choose between two of his friends? If he chose to save Sonic, then there was a high chance that Amy would perish, but if he chose to not take the risk, then there was a high chance that Dark Sonic would continue to run amok in the world and the real Sonic would never have a chance to be in control again.

"Die?" Knuckles finally gasped out the word.

Tails slowly closed his eyes and nodded as he fought back the tears and gut wrenching feeling of sorrow. Hearing the word again so bluntly from Knuckles made him feel even worse.

"Yes." Tails sighed.

"But I don't understand," Rouge questioned, "If Amy was insane then how did she figure it out?"

"I imagine it was the electric shock that must've brought her memories back and no doubt she realised what was going on." Tails explained with a small shrug, already missing Amy greatly. He felt frustrated that there seemed to be little he could do. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"We can't just do nothing though!" Knuckles yelled, frustratingly. "Surely there must be another way?"

"Not unless Dark Sonic willingly gives up his power and I don't see that happening anytime soon." Tails slumped against the wall, defeated, sinking down to the floor and wrapping his arms over his knees whilst the others watched hopelessly. "If we want to end this quickly, then the only option is to take away his source of power."

Rouge frowned. "What exactly are the chances of Amy dying?"

Tails fought back a whimper as he spoke, "Very high."

Rouge thought for a moment, her frown deepening before holding her head up high. "I say we do it."

Everyone's heads quickly turned to face her, their eyes narrowed at her.

"What?!" Knuckles snapped.

"Calm down Knucklehead and hear me out." Rouge held her hands up, pleading for everyone to listen. "This is what Amy would want us to do, would it not? She's so smitten with big blue that she'd do anything if it meant him recovering from this, even giving up her own life. Think about the weight of this whole thing rationally; if we do nothing, Dark Sonic will most likely turn the whole world into chaos and many other innocent people would die. One life against millions of others."

"But it's Amy's life!" Knuckles growled at her, putting his fists up. "Are you saying she's worth nothing? Just a small piece of collateral damage?"

"I don't quite think that was what Rouge was implying." Shadow stuck up for her from the corner of the room. "She was merely looking at the situation logically and what looking at what Amy would think. She most certainly would not be collateral damage, but remembered fondly as a hero."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes before lowering his fists, his face remaining angry and offended. "And have you considered how Sonic would react to this? Sacrificing Amy to save himself? Have you considered the effect it would have on him? We'd practically be murderers and no doubt Sonic would feel guilty as well."

Tails abruptly stood up and stormed out of the room whilst the others watched in shock. Tails didn't care though. He'd had enough fighting for one night. Tears managed to slip out from the corners of his eyes as he made his way the room Amy had been laying in hours before. Now she was out there somewhere, probably lost and alone. She was like a sister to him and he couldn't stand the thought of what had happened to her. The situation just seemed to keep getting worse and worse. Every time they took a step forward, it felt like they were then taking two steps back. Never in his life had he felt so helpless.

Stressfully, he rubbed his hands over his face, wiping the tears away before taking a deep breath and tried and calm down.

"Long day, huh?" Knuckles' voice from behind him made Tails jump and he turned around to see the red echidna stood awkwardly in the doorway, staring with concern filled eyes at Tails who was stood still the middle of the dark room.

"Yeah." Tails sighed his reply before walking over to take a seat on the bed Amy had used and stared into space.

"What are you going to do?"

Tails continued to stare straight ahead, his blue eyes distant as if he was in a catatonic state of shock, maybe even denial about what he would have to eventually decide. Why couldn't he just wake up? Wake up and realise that this was all just some long, twisted nightmare where Eggman had never done this.

"I don't know." Tails finally answered quietly and Knuckles closed his eyes sadly.

"You said that the connection between them should've killed Amy," Knuckles began to ask slowly, "Can you think of why she's still alive."

Tails eyes narrowed slightly. "I have one theory, but it's completely stupid and very unlikely."

"What is it?" Knuckles demanded as he watched Tails' expression turn to one of awe before his blue eyes narrowed again and he smirked at the ridiculousness of his theory.

"No." Tails shook his head. "I'm just being silly."

.

Amy groaned groggily as her eyes fluttered open, a blurry room appearing in front of her vision before she blinked, confirming that she was indeed unfamiliar with the place she found herself in. The walls were made of metal in a similar way to one of Eggman's bases. The bed and room she was in was quite small and when she registered the tightly sealed door, she shot up, panicking as she realised that she was in a prison cell. Hastily, she summoned her hammer and tried smashing her way through the door, but her hammer had no effect, not even making a dent as it clanged against the metal.

She growled in frustration at being contained again before a small chuckle from behind her made her shriek with fear. She jumped to face behind her and her eyes widened with fear at Dark Sonic stood, smirking at her from the corner of the room. Her heart thudded with fear as memories of the words passed between them came flooding back. No. This couldn't be happening. What was he going to do to her? Fearfully, Amy pressed herself against the wall, as far from him as possible whereas Dark Sonic folded his arms cockily, perfectly at ease.

There was a moment of intense silence as they continued to watch each other. Eventually, Amy had to tear her eyes away from his glowing white ones, not wanting to see the monster Sonic had become. She had to get out of there, find Tails and help get the real Sonic back.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Dark Sonic asked in a tone of repressed excitement.

Amy took a deep shaky breath before swallowing and speaking. "W-what's going on?"

Dark Sonic smiled and began walking, almost floating towards her as his feet barely seemed to touch the ground at times. The dark mist around him began to ominously engulf the room, further making Amy feel completely trapped in his darkness. He loomed over her and Amy felt completely powerless in his presence. He gently reached up and played with one of her quills like a curious child before he lowered his hand and smiled at her.

"You're in our little hide out."

Amy gazed up at him in confusion, her body still shaking slightly from fear. "Our?"

"Me and others who want this world to be a better place." Dark Sonic's smile widened, yet there didn't appear to be any true happiness in it.

"What are you talking about?" She asked timidly.

"Those that have deserted the pathetic GUN, those who have been wrongly persecuted and those who can see what evil is doing to the world." Dark Sonic elaborated as he began playing with one of her quills again. Amy cringed away slightly, reminding herself that this Sonic was even more unpredictable and dangerous.

"It's time that the world was cleaned up of evil once and for all, Amy. For far too long I have granted mercy." He grabbed onto her quill tighter and Amy gasped at the sudden fire in his expression.

"So…that's what all of this has been about?" Amy gasped quietly as she shrank back as far as the wall would allow her. "All this destruction you've caused is you chasing down criminals?"

Dark Sonic smirked as he backed away slightly, letting go of her quill, causing Amy to sigh with relief. He began placing the room and Amy could sense his growing frustration and she wondered what she had said to anger him. She bent her knees slightly in an attempt to look as small as possible as Dark Sonic began growling to himself.

"One evil in particular: Eggman." He snarled his name as if it was tainted.

"So, that's who you've been looking for?" Amy concluded, flinching slightly as Dark Sonic abruptly froze to stare at her.

"Yes." He confirmed through clenched teeth. "He's been in hiding ever since this all happened; the coward. I can't seem to find him anywhere." Dark Sonic's aura began pulsating slightly as he clenched his fists and became as stiff with rage.

Amy's heart rate increased again and she bit her lip nervously before Dark Sonic seemed to relax slightly.

"You fear me." He stated sinisterly, smirking at her.

"I wonder why." Amy blurted out without thinking before clamping a hand over her mouth.

Dark Sonic merely laughed.

"Well you have nothing to fear," He explained, "I brought you here for safe keeping."

Amy frowned in confusion. "What? No more spying?"

"No."

"But why?" Great, so that opportunity to escape was now no longer possible for her.

"You're better off here with me. Besides, you're the one who wandered off and I can't have you telling them our little secret." He began pacing again, his eyes never leaving her, looking a like a wild animal deciding which better position to attack from. "It's a dangerous place out there and I can't have you getting hurt again."

"I think I'll manage." Amy stated nervously. "Now, if you'd please let me go – "

Dark Sonic laughed again as he appeared to materialise next to Amy, leaning on his hand that was pressed against the door next to Amy's head, casually blocking her escape. He narrowed his eyes at her, daring her to challenge him as Amy recovered from the shock of his sudden movement.

"Sonic, please," Amy begged, "This isn't funny."

"You're absolutely right." He nodded in agreement sounding more and more on edge each passing second as he drummed his fingers against the metal. Amy began to wonder that if she got him angry enough, he'd release a burst of energy that would somehow break the door down. Right now, it was her best shot.

"You can't keep me here." Amy tried her best to glower at him threateningly and Dark Sonic froze at her sudden switch from fear to hostility and tilted his head slightly in suspicion.

"I can and I will." He asserted, standing up straight, leaning over her slightly as his breathing got heavier. Amy pushed her fears down and tried to continue pushing his buttons. She knew she was playing with fire, but it was her only hope.

"Well sooner or later, Tails will come looking for me and he'll stop you." Amy smirked.

"Bah!" Dark Sonic sneered. "He couldn't stop me before so why now?"

_Good point, _Amy thought to herself angrily. She had never really tried to purposefully wind Sonic up before; it was usually the other way around. He knew how to get to her, but she didn't know how to get to him.

"You know I bet Eggman is laughing right now." Amy claimed, smiling.

Dark Sonic pressed his lips together in a tight line, his chest heaving up and down with each breath, his eyes glowed dangerously brighter as the mist around him got thicker again.

"Oh really?" He snapped.

Amy forced herself not to recoil at the uncharacteristic menace in his tone.

"Yeah, he was so confident in his project when I was pretending to work for him. He's probably just biding his time as he figures out a way to control you. That was his plan all along."

Dark Sonic remained silent for a few seconds. He held his breath and Amy waited, frozen on the spot as all she could hear was her heartbeat that was pounding in her chest; she was more scared than she had ever been in her whole life.

Dark Sonic finally smirked, leaning closer to whisper into Amy's ear. "Let him try." He backed away laughing before he began pacing the room again, parts of his body twitching every now and again and Amy held in a sigh of frustration. This was getting her nowhere. There had to be another way of escape.

She rubbed her temple as her head began pounding slightly just like when Dark Sonic had first kissed her that night in the hospital. She wondered if Dark Sonic had transferred some of his energy while she was asleep. She couldn't even remember falling asleep after he had grabbed her. She was guessing that he probably had.

"How exactly does this transfer work?" Amy asked and Dark Sonic stopped pacing at her sudden question. He narrowed his eyes at her again.

"I'm not too sure, why?"

Amy shrugged. "I was just curious. After all, I am the victim."

"I did not victimise you." Dark Sonic said firmly, sounding slightly annoyed. "Like I said, it was an accident."

Amy snorted. "So you just tripped and you're lips happened to land on mine?"

"Don't be stupid." Dark Sonic glared at her.

"Oh, I'm being perfectly serious. I'm failing to see your point of view in all of this."

Dark Sonic bared his teeth at her in warning. "I was healing you. I didn't know I could do something like that with the negative energy. This is new to me. It wasn't until I felt our minds link when the energy settled in your brain that I realised what had happened."

"So our minds are completely linked?"

"Yes, but I do need to keep topping you up."

Amy's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Dark Sonic didn't say anything as he stared at her before deciding to completely ignore her question and began pacing again. Amy sighed in frustration, blowing a quill out of the way of her face before leaning her full weight against the wall in defeat. She just wished that there was some way for her to use this transfer of energy to her advantage.

Maybe she could.

Amy froze as she felt the idea forming in her head. It was riskier than the previous one and she just hoped that the result was worth it.

Once again forcing her fears down, Amy turned to give Dark Sonic a small smile who stopped pacing again when he saw her facial expression, narrowing his eyes again.

"Remember how much fun we used to have before all of this happened?" Amy sighed in remembrance.

Dark Sonic remained silent, watching her as still as statue from the centre of the room.

"Do you remember that one time when I got annoyed at how many chilidogs you ate, so I purposefully added extra hot sauce into it for a prank?" Amy giggled. "But then I ended up feeling so guilty that I let you eat all my ice-cream afterwards. You've always been my weak spot."

She still couldn't get a reaction out of him.

"Did you really mean what you said before?" She asked shyly. "About caring about me?"

"Yes." Dark Sonic finally answered. "More than you'll ever know."

Amy smiled and stood up straight as both she drifted closer to him.

"So you really truly didn't mean what you said about me being a nuisance?"

"No, Amy. I'd never say anything to deliberately hurt you."

Amy took the final step closer that placed her right in front of him, their bodies practically pressed up against each other as Amy gazed into his white eyes.

"Why did you choose to kiss me?" She asked innocently. "You could've done it any other way and yet you kissed me – why?"

Dark Sonic smirked, leaning in. Their lips almost touching and Amy could almost taste victory as she felt his warm breath dancing across her face.

"I just did something the old me was too cowardly to do." Dark Sonic murmured before wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her forward to close the frustratingly small remaining gap between them and crushed his lips against hers. Amy panicked at the unexpected passion, but forced herself to play along, kissing him back just as heatedly as she wrapped her arms around his neck for a convincing measure. He pushed her backwards slightly, pressing her against the wall, caging her in. Amy couldn't believe her luck at how perfectly this was going.

Dark Sonic easily forced her lips apart and Amy, knowing what he was about to do, let him, tightening her grip on him as she felt the energy flowing into her. It felt like someone was pouring a warm liquid into her brain to the point where she could feel her head beginning to burn. She felt her sanity beginning to slip and knew she only had seconds. Easily breaking the kiss, much to Dark Sonic's shock, but she didn't even give him time to react as she kicked back into the metal wall behind her. The metal creaked with the force, splitting apart just enough for her to slip through as fast as she could and began running down the long corridor.

Dark Sonic sighed in frustration before flying after her.

Amy continued running despite the burning in her head. Her vision kept flickering, disorientating her as she tried to navigate her way out. She was ecstatic that her idea had actually worked, but she had no idea how much it would take it out of her. But as soon as she felt Dark Sonic's thoughts polluting her mind again, she knew that she was in deep trouble. Her head began to feel like it was on fire as she felt both hers and Dark Sonic's emotions and panicked as she felt how angry he was.

Different colours invaded her vision as she swayed in her running, her head began to feel like when Eggman knocked her out again.

"Oh, Amy." Dark Sonic sighed in annoyance behind her. "Why would you do something so stupid to yourself?"

His voice seemed to echo as she collapsed to her knees on the ground, unable to walk straight anymore. The world felt like it was tilting to one side, spinning insanely to the point where she felt like she wanted to throw up. She saw herself from the back, in the eyes of the dark form standing over her.

"Your little stunt didn't get you very far did it?" Dark Sonic scolded her as if she were a child and Amy managed to turn his head to the sound of his voice and did her best to glare at him.

A loud ringing noise erupted in her ears and she used her last remaining burst of energy to unexpectedly punch Dark Sonic across the hall. The metal clanged loudly and bent around his body before he fell to the floor and Amy yelped as she felt everything he felt before he landed gracefully on his feet and slowly looked up to glare at Amy.

"What do you think you're playing at?" He demanded angrily and Amy's head began to burn even worse.

"Can't…" Amy panted out. "Lock me…away. Need…to…help you."

"Ha!" Dark Sonic barked. "You don't even know how to handle the energy. Now sit still and it'll be over quicker."

Crouching down, Amy dizzily backed away. Every step back she took, Dark Sonic mirror easily, smirking as if he were playing with her. He flew over to her, ready to tackle her to the ground, but Amy managed to tense up and resist. She managed to kick him in the stomach, sending him flying over her head and Dark Sonic snarled in annoyance.

He charged at her again and this time, she prepared to punch him again. Dark Sonic anticipated her move though, quickly and easily blocking her attack by grabbing hold of her fist. Amy yanked her hand away, losing her poor sense of balance through dizziness and she fell to the floor at Dark Sonic's feet.

Amy could see how terrified she looked through his eyes and flung herself backwards away from him and tried her best to crawl away in a last pathetic attempt to escape. The ringing in her ears turned into a loud roar and her whole body ached as her brain continued to burn.

"W-what did…you…d-do?" Amy demanded as she finally collapsed onto her stomach on the cold floor.

"More like what _you_ did." Dark Sonic sighed before flipping her limp body over onto her back, cushioning her head with his hand as he pressed his lips to hers again. She managed to resist slightly at first before falling unconscious as Dark Sonic pulled away, smirking in victory.

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	24. Catalyst

**It's 12:30am, I'm hallucinating from exhaustion from a busy and rough day. But the show must go on. Sorry for the month long delay; real life sure loves to get in the way. Plus I lost my notes (I seriously need to stop doing that) so they were fun to go hunting for. But thanks for waiting. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews. They mean a lot to me. This chapter gave me a lot of trouble, so I hope it's ok. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**24: Catalyst **

Dark Sonic sighed as he pressed himself further back into the wall of the new cell he had found. The light in the small room was dim, giving the room an eerie glow. The mist that surrounded him floated around the room, only being halted in its tracks by the bed and the small form that was laying besides him. The black mist curled around Amy's body as if it was dragging her towards him, as if it thought they were one. Amy remained lying motionless at Dark Sonic's side, her head resting in his lap, her eyes staring forward hypnotically. Every now and then she would shiver with the only calming source being Dark Sonic rubbing soothing circles on her waist as he held her, gently caressing her, both to calm her and himself after their battle hours ago.

"You are not to pull a stunt like that again." Dark Sonic ordered Amy as he pulled her tighter against him. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? As if you believe you could control my power. You barely had even a fraction of it then and it was too much for you to handle. Why can't you just accept that I'm trying to protect you?"

Amy shivered again and Dark Sonic sighed, staring at her with a hint of sympathy on his otherwise cold features. Seeing her like this pained him, he'd admit to that. He only wanted what was best for her. To protect her from the evil in the world that had caught her up in a thick web for the spider to then entangle further before devouring her. That's what Eggman did to her. The sight of her dying on the floor in front of him, blood oozing from her head, her body still…that image would forever haunt him, no matter how he had felt about her at the time. It only fuelled his anger. Fuelled his power to the point where he felt like he could easily crush Eggman. He would make the doctor pay for what he had done.

"You left me with no other choice, you know. I couldn't let you die." He whispered. "You're in my mind right now so surely you can understand." A tone of desperation appeared in his voice.

She had to understand. It was the only way to save her. He had lingered in the hospital for hours. Watching secretly as the doctors did everything they could to save her. Knowing it was a lost cause and the gradually her life was slipping away, he knew he had to do something. Despite her injuries, she had looked so beautiful lying there. He was in love, he knew he was. It had taken being blasted with negative chaos energy to realise that and after that realisation, kissing her had felt like the most natural thing in the world. Giving her a piece of himself to save her. He couldn't let her slip away from him again. He would make this world a safer place…for her. For his Amy.

Amy didn't respond as she remained trapped in her state of insanity. He shifted slightly to look down at her and moved his hand up to gently play with one of her quills. She was so pure and good. Something that everybody in the world should strive to be. He would model the world in her image. She would be the symbol of peace and goodness. Any form of evil that tainted this and anyone who tried to resist would feel his wrath.

"I see the world clearly now," He continued, "I see what I fool I had been before to think that defeating evil was fun. I was a fool to think it was wise to let them go, to not deliver the final blow. It needs to be stopped. I will kill the Lieutenant. I will kill Eggman." He growled out the last part.

Amy cringed slightly, shaking until Dark Sonic pressed his hands against her body, forcing her to stop shaking a calm down.

"Sorry about that." He let out a small chuckle. "They bring out the worst in me."

"Blood." Amy whispered.

Dark Sonic smirked and nodded. "Yes, I desire their blood. I want to feel it dripping between my fingers. To watch the life leave their eyes after they have begged me for their death. They will pay for all of the suffering and injustice they have caused. A new world will begin. A free world. Where people will no longer have to worry about evil. I will stand as their protector."

Amy twisted slightly, her eyes seemingly momentarily becoming self-aware as she glared up at him before collapsing again. Dark Sonic shook his head and sighed in response.

"Don't look at me like that." He frowned. "This is for the best and you know it. Ultimately, isn't that what we've always desired together? A free world of peace and harmony? Ripping evil weeds out at the roots so they can never re-grow? Fight the insanity and my power over you all you want, you won't succeed."

She fidgeted slightly in his grip before he forced her to be still.

"It was a waste of time to leave you with Tails and the others. I see that now." Dark Sonic sighed as he managed to get Amy to calm down again. "I see they have brainwashed you against me. But no matter. They are nothing but a thorn in my side right now and as soon as my plan works, they will have choice but to stand by my side again. You included. Until then though, I just need to make sure they don't get their hands on the master emerald."

"Y-you can't…win." Amy managed to choke out, her eyes beginning to regain focus again and Dark Sonic knew she was coming around. Keeping her sedated was getting tougher and tougher. The girl definitely was a fighter, one of the many reasons Sonic loved her, but in this instance, it was a bit of an annoyance.

"Oh Amy," Dark Sonic sighed, "Sooner or later, you'll see things my way."

"Don't…bet…on it." Amy gasped out. She weakly pushed herself out of Dark Sonic's lap. He allowed her to do so, watching her with amused curiosity, confident that she wouldn't be able to do anything.

"But Amy," Sonic protested with a smile on his face as Amy struggled to sit up straight next to him, "Don't you want a better world? A world of peace? I will be mould this world into something new and better for everybody."

"You're insane." Amy spat. "You're talking as if you want to rule this world."

"Mmmm…maybe I do."

Amy gasped, her eyes widened. This wasn't the Sonic she knew and loved.

"You can't do that!"

"Maybe ruler is the wrong word. Think of it more as a protector." Dark Sonic smirked. "I fail to understand why you think this is such a bad thing? I am partly doing this for you, you know." He gently reached over and brushed one of her quills.

Amy managed to shake her head away and stared at him in alarm, her strength and sanity returning more and more. "Me? That's stupid!"

"Why? This world will be a safer place for you."

Amy's features filled with dread and disgust at Dark Sonic's words. She couldn't believe everything he was saying. Her throat felt like it was closing up as she struggled to swallow the lump that had formed there. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and her mind spun at the thought of what he was planning to do. Again, her mind leaped back to how this was her fault. She had made him this way. She had given Eggman what he had needed and created this mess. How was she to make this right again?

"Do you have any idea how mad you sound?" Amy gasped.

Dark Sonic just smiled at her in response, his white eyes narrowing slightly. "I prefer to think of it as enlightened. Do you seriously not want me to save GUN from killing millions of people like us? Because it's them that's doing it Amy, not me. I've only murdered criminals, not innocent bystanders."

"Of course what they're doing is awful and I want it to be stopped!" Amy shrieked. "But that does not give you the right to use that to put yourself on top! Just because one man from GUN is abusing his power to carry out his prejudice agenda? Stop him by all means, but you taking over the world and murdering…does that make you any better? The Sonic I know would never consider such a thing!"

"It's too late Amy. The world will be mine to re-shape."

Amy glared at him. "Tails and the others will stop you."

Dark Sonic laughed. "Like I said, they are nothing but a thorn in my side. I quick movement of my fingers will soon pluck their threat away and they will have no choice but to join me."

Amy them stared at him with shocking determination and strength. "Well then if Tails doesn't…then I will."

"And you actually think you can defeat me?" Dark Sonic asked in disbelief.

"Who said anything…about defeating?" Amy gasped as she smirked at him. "I'm going to save the real Sonic."

Dark Sonic sighed in irritation. "I am the real Sonic."

"No…" Amy denied furiously. "Sonic would never do all of this."

"Mmmm. But we all have subconscious desires Amy." Dark Sonic grinned. "But right now, it looks like you're due for another transfer."

.

As Dark Sonic watched Amy from the doorway to her cell, he sighed to himself. He continued to gaze as she twitched in her sleep, he could see into her dreams and they weren't a pretty sight. He wished there was something he could do, but he had no choice. Carefully and gently, he closed the cell door behind him and locked it before turning to walk down the corridor, back towards the main hall of the base where everyone currently was.

Amy could challenge him and fight against him all she wanted, but it was wasted effort. He was doing the right thing and what he had said to her was true: she would eventually see things his way. Because there was only going to be his way. Peace and tranquillity throughout the planet. Anyone who questioned that would be a fool. The world would look to him and no one else. His friends would be by his side as he stood tall, above everyone on the planet as they looked to him as their protector. He smiled at the thought. He couldn't believe the old him was too cowardly to do this, to not be able to see that this was the right thing to do.

"What's new?" Dark Sonic demanded as he walked into the main hall of the old base. The large room was full of desks and computers and parts from old machines that Eggman had never finished building. Everyone looked up at him upon his arrival before casting their eyes downwards, slightly fearful of his presence. The ex-GUN soldiers quickly went back to work while the civilians continued their conversation.

"Our numbers are growing." A GUN solider informed Sonic from the largest desk in the room with a giant computer screen above him displaying statistics. "We now have over three hundred people with five other new GUN soldiers having deserted and joined our ranks."

"Lucky for us, numbers aren't an issue as long as I remain at full power." Dark Sonic floated over to him and frowned at the computer screen. "I want extra guards posted around the master emerald. I know that Tails will soon figure it out if he hasn't already. I want guards outside of Amy's cell too. I can't keep an eye on her all the time and don't you dare fire at her if she tries to escape."

"Of course." The soldier responded. "What shall we do if Tails and the others break in?"

"Don't fire at them either; they'll be of use to us. Just try and capture them and make sure that Knuckles of all people doesn't get near it." Dark Sonic ordered. "Are they still in the same position?"

"Yes, they're still there. But what do you want me to do about that strange signal that's coming from underneath the base?"

Dark Sonic narrowed his eyes at the little red blip on the screen underneath the map of the base. It was established that it was some sort of signal, but there was nothing but solid rock down there. Any lifeforms down that far would be impossible. It was too hot and the pressure would be too great.

"I'm sure that it's nothing." Dark Sonic turned away from the screen to watch everybody else in the room. "Nothing can be down there, it's impossible. But if it does start to worry you, then just drill down there or something and put a camera down."

The soldier nodded, his eyes darted back to the screen before back to Dark Sonic who looked be deep in thought.

The solider took a deep breath. "I have some bad news I'm afraid. We've had reports that GUN have just massacred an entire village of anthros, including children."

Dark Sonic twitched, his eyes closed tightly as his dark aura seems to grow thicker, his body shook dangerously. So they had moved on from dragging random families out onto the street, now they were murdering whole villages? It made Dark Sonic feel sick. The Lieutenant's smug expression made its way into Dark Sonic's mind which only made him angrier. The exciting urge to clasp his hands around his neck made Dark Sonic almost giddy as he thought about all the things he was going to do to him once he got him. He would make him suffer. Oh yes, he would make him suffer. He would dig his fingers into his fragile little human neck until the blood vessels in his eyes popped and his face turned purple. The delightful sound of his snapping neck echoed in Dark Sonic's imagination. Ripping his head clean from his body, holding him by his purple hair as his body fell to the ground like the pathetic creature he was. Maybe he'd keep his head as a trophy; a reminder to other's who dared to break the peace and harm others.

This was it. It was now or never that GUN must be stopped. Before they commit any other vile crime and murder the people that they had taken an oath to protect when they had signed up for the job. No longer would anthros live in fear. This was the time that Dark Sonic would save them all for good.

"I suppose this is it then." Dark Sonic smiled and the solider looked at him with a hint of concern. "This is it!" Sonic repeated, only this time he yelled it, making the whole room go silent as people turned to stare at him.

"Everyone I have just received news that GUN have just brutally murdered a whole village, showing no mercy to the innocent anthros that lived there." Dark Sonic announced, his eyes remained closed, his smile widening as he heard the outcry of everyone in the room.

People turned to each other angrily, discussing with disgusted expressions what they had just heard. The whole room became thick and heavy with anger. Some people wept, others yelled and some stood there in a state of shock.

Dark Sonic opened his eyes and addressed them all once again. "Are we going to stand for this?"

A chorus of people yelling 'no' erupted from the crowd as they turned to face Dark Sonic again.

"Because I think now is the time to attack. This massacre is our catalyst and something must be done to stop them from doing it again!"

"Sonic," The soldier began to protest, "Are we even ready? They have more weapons and numbers than we do."

"What? And wait for them to slaughter more innocent lives?" Dark Sonic growled at, turning on the soldier, causing him to flinch away. "Are you with me or against me?"

"W-with you." The solider answered, trembling slightly at the sight of Dark Sonic looming over him with such ferocity.

"Good." Dark Sonic smirked, turning to the roaring crowd again. "Tomorrow, we will take back the world! All evil will be exterminated and I promise you the Lieutenant's head!"

.

"_It was awful!" _The Lieutenant explained on the TV screen as an eager reporter thrust a microphone into his face. _"Dark Sonic just came out of nowhere and murdered all of these villagers unprovoked. He possesses a great level of power that we're working incredibly hard to stop. We urge the public that if anyone knows of any anthro that also possesses this power or if they know anyone working to help Dark Sonic, that they should turn them in. There is a rich reward for anyone who comes forward with information. Remember that we are here to protect you."_

"_Thank you sir." _The reported thanked him, bringing the microphone back towards his own face and faced the camera again. _"Is this the end? Will Dark Sonic's killing rampage ever cease? Stay tuned for more news of Dark Sonic – " _

Tails growled as he slammed his finger down on the TV remote, turning the system off before dropping back down on the couch and rubbing his hands over his face in frustration.

"Do you think that rotten GUN soldier was telling the truth?" Knuckles asked from the couch across from him and Tails sighed.

"I have no idea anymore."

"Because he looks like the same guy from the battle the other day. The one who shot Vanilla."

"That's just what I was thinking."

Knuckles frowned as he stared at the now dark TV before his eyes darted back over to Tails who was slumped into the couch, his body barely visible as he curled his tails around himself as if he wanted to hide from the world.

Tails curled into a tighter ball, fighting back tears at the thought of this whole situation.

"So…what are we going to do?" Knuckles asked after a few moments of silence. "We can't just sit around in Eggman's old base forever."

Tails didn't move, his voice muffled by his thick tails. "For now, that's as good as it gets. Unless you feel like killing Amy."

Knuckles glared at the young fox. "Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?" Tails snapped finally emerging from his mini hiding place to glare back at the red echidna.

"So cold and horrible." Knuckles explained. "You've not been yourself lately."

"Well in case you haven't noticed," Tails shrieked, "It's not exactly all sunshine and happiness right now is it? Dark Sonic is taking over, Amy could potentially die and Vanilla is still recovering from being shot so forgive me if I'm not singing merrily."

"Alright, calm down!" Knuckles held his hands up defensively. "No need to take it out on me."

Tails sighed. "I'm sorry…it's just…I don't know what to do."

Knuckles sighed as well and stared at Tails who had never looked so defeated in all of the time Knuckles had known him. He hated feeling stuck like this. He wanted to fight. But his leg injury and the fact that no matter what he did would just make the situation worse made Knuckles feel just as helpless as Tails.

"Are you sure that there's no way around saving both Sonic and Amy?" Knuckles asked.

Tails shrugged. "If there is, I'm not aware and I hope the idea presents itself soon."

Knuckles thought for a moment. "You said you had a theory as to why Amy was still alive despite the fact that the connection should've killed her, could this same thing also save her when Dark Sonic loses his power?"

Tails remained silent for a few moments before he shook his head. "It's not even a theory Knuckles. Just a stupid idea that ran through my head for a few seconds. It's ridiculous. Besides, it only explains how she's still alive; even with this idea the chances of her dying are still high."

Knuckles looked at him thoughtfully. "Care to tell me what it is?"

Tails sighed and looked like he was about to explain before Rouge burst into the room.

"You're never going to believe this." She smirked.

"What?" Both Tails and Knuckles demanded.

"We've got a call." She explained. "From Eggman."

* * *

**Slow chapter? Perhaps. But I don't think you guys are even ready for what I have in store *laughs evilly* Feel free to leave your opinions. If there's any extra mistakes, I'm sorry. My laptop has been playing up so proof reading was a nightmare. **

**Quick question though: whose side of the argument are you on at the beginning of the chapter? Dark Sonic or Amy? I'm just curious. **


	25. Murderous Ideas

**College is now done for me with only three exams left. Hopefully that means more time to write. I'm really hoping to have this story finished by the end of June. Knowing me, this probably won't happen, but hey, we can hope I update more. Again, sorry for the month long delay. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. It was interesting seeing different people's opinions. A fascinating read. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**25: Murderous Ideas**

"Eggman?" Tails gasped out in shock, his blue eyes squinted at Rouge in disbelief.

"What does that creep want?" Knuckles snapped. "He's the one who caused all of this."

Rouge shrugged as she turned to walk out the room. "He just said he desperately wanted to speak to all of us."

Tails thought for a moment before following Rouge. Knuckles grabbed hold of the fox's arm and he looked up at him in confusion.

"You aren't actually going along with this?"

Tails sighed. "In light of the circumstances, I think it's best that I hear what the doctor has to say."

"But what if he tricks us or something?"

Rouge snorted. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you Knuckie?"

Knuckles growled at her. "Shut up Rouge! No one asked for your opinion."

Tails sighed in annoyance. "I don't care about any of your opinions. I'm going to see him."

Without another word, Tails pushed passed both of them and made his way into the office that Eggman had previously owned. Shadow was already stood in there with his arms folded. His red eyes flickered in Tails' direction as he entered before glaring back up at Doctor Eggman's image on the large screen above their heads. Knuckles and Rouge quickly followed Tails in with Knuckles immediately glaring at Eggman as he entered. Tails stood right in front of the screen with the others gathered behind him and frowned up at Eggman, displaying that he meant business and was in no mood to play around.

"Alright Eggman, what do you want?" Tails demanded.

"Yeah," Knuckles grunted in agreement, "You've got a lot of nerve showing your ugly face after everything you've done."

Eggman let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his glove hand across his bold head. Tails froze slightly at how tired the evil doctor looked. Under his blue glasses, he could just about make out the dark bruises under his eyes. His skin was pale and did he actually look slightly thinner? Tails couldn't believe it. It looked like this whole situation was effecting him just as badly as everyone else.

"Knuckles please," Tails tried to calm his friend down, "I can handle this."

Knuckles huffed, folded his arms over his chest and continued to glare at Eggman, but otherwise remained quiet.

"Look, believe me when I say I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have any other choice." Eggman sneered.

"What are you talking about?" Tails asked.

"How do you rodents feel about working together?" Eggman cut right to the chase.

The others stared up at him blankly, not saying a word. Tails knew the situation must be desperate if Eggman had asked this of them. Eggman only worked with them when there was a bigger threat than himself. That thought made Tails' heart sink even further. His worst nightmare was coming true. The situation truly was dire. Hopelessness washed over him, drowning him as Eggman came running to them like the coward he was when things got too out of hand. But then again, working with him would provide them with an advantage. If they had a common goal of stopping Dark Sonic, then what would be the point of going it alone?

"Can't handle your own problems Eggman?" Knuckles smirked.

"Well like it or not, Dark Sonic is now also your problem too." Eggman retaliated.

Rouge sighed. "The old doctor has point."

"I've been hiding right under Dark Sonic's nose the whole time. I managed to hide myself away in a safe room under the base he's now using, but I won't be able to survive down here much longer. Oxygen and food are running low and Dark Sonic has been getting out of control." Eggman explained. "From down here, I've been able to access everything and keep tabs on the situation. All the while it would be difficult for anyone to pick me up. If there is any signs I'm down here, Dark Sonic will probably be too stupid to know it's me. But we'll get back to that thought later. Right now, I need you to confirm your situation."

"GUN have forced us to go into hiding. They've been attacking and killing anthros." Shadow explained with a hint of malice in his voice.

Eggman nodded. "Thought so. Many anthros and GUN soldiers have been driven away by the Lieutenant's new military state he's establishing. Many have joined Dark Sonic."

"What?!" Everyone in the room gasped.

"Indeed." Eggman said. "The last time I hacked into my own system, Dark Sonic seemed to be planning some kind of attack on them. War is going to break out and I have a feeling that Dark Sonic is going to end up on top. That crazy hedgehog plans on taking over the world."

"Sonic." Tails whispered lowly as he closed his eyes. That truly wasn't Sonic at all.

"Damn faker," Shadow growled out, "The negative chaos energy has made him go mad."

"That was always my aim." Eggman admitted. "Project darkness was too successful. I didn't intend for it to go this far."

"No!" Knuckles yelled. "You just wanted Sonic as a mindless slave for your own greed!"

"Oh save it Knucklehead!" Eggman barked back.

"So what exactly went wrong?" Tails asked. "Because of you, my best friend is now some sort of psycho."

Eggman remained silent for a few seconds. It was taking all of Tails' will power not to cry. He hated discussing his best friend this way. Sonic the Hedgehog, a name that Tails would never in a million years associate with wrong doing. Sure he could be an idiot sometimes, but Sonic was the most pure, kind hearted person you could find. A sapphire in a world of dark, dusty coal. Killing and world domination just wasn't in his nature. Eggman had truly corrupted him with this project of his.

"Project darkness was originally set up by me after the incident with Perfect Chaos." Eggman began to explain and everyone leaned forward to listen, deep in concentration. "When I noticed the divided powers of chaos control: negative and positive. It got me wondering; if Sonic could absorb the positive energy, then what would happen if he absorbed the negative? Now, I knew there was no way in hell that Sonic would willingly do such a thing. It was a case of creating the right conditions to do so."

"So you set up this elaborate scheme with Amy?" Shadow questioned.

"That wasn't my original intention." Eggman replied. "I spent month after month watching him, observing him in battle, trying to find a sign of weakness that would allow for the negative energy to take effect. Sonic is too much of a good person for his own good and it was difficult. I almost gave up multiple times. But everyone does have darkness in them, I kept reminding myself of that, so I persisted. It finally paid off when we battled in the city months ago. The way Sonic defended Amy, how riled up he got when she was in harm's way. That's when it clicked into place. It had been so obvious since the beginning. His friends. It seemed whenever his friends were harmed, he unleashed more of his potential. I have always known in battle that Sonic has been holding back. Fuel his full potential with negative energy and I knew he would be unstoppable. Under my control, he would've helped me to world domination."

"But how does Amy fit in?" Shadow pressed, his glare deepening as anger and impatience dripped from his tone.

"That was a mere stroke of luck on my part." Eggman beamed at Shadow. "I thank you Shadow the Hedgehog. Without you and Amy, I may not have achieved this. Once I had this information, I had no idea how I would go about this. But then Amy came to me proposing an alliance. I knew straight away that she was lying through her teeth. But it was perfect. I could have Amy work for me and give me the information I needed and crush Sonic's heart at the same time. I knew that killing her and capturing Sonic's other friends would tip him over the edge, and it did."

"But how could you have hoped to control him?" Tails demanded in disgust. "The negative energy sent him mad. He has no control over his subconscious. How could you have believed that you could have controlled that?!"

"Not my brightest moment, I'll admit." Eggman grumbled, glaring at the young fox. "Now do you have idea how to stop the blue idiot or not?"

Silence fell across the room. Tails didn't dare say anything. He knew that Eggman would be more than up for this plan and he didn't want the added pressure. His idea was too risky. No, he just couldn't put Amy's life at risk like that. They'd save Sonic, but at what price? Tails couldn't bring himself to do it. So many things could go wrong. Too much was at stake.

"There is one idea." Rouge admitting, breaking the silence. Tails shot her a warning look, but she carried on, unaffected. "We turn off the master emerald, stopping his power."

"Perfect." Eggman smiled. "With the power of chaos prevented, Sonic should return to normal. I had already thought of this plan myself, I'm glad you have reached the same conclusion I have."

_Of course he would have no problem with this plan, _Tails thought to himself bitterly, _I bet he hasn't even considered the cost of it. _

Shadow huffed, "There's just one problem with that plan. Dark Sonic transferred some of his energy into Amy in order to heal her. If we carry out this plan, there's every possibility that the energy would drain from her causing her to relapse and die."

"I've already considered that." Eggman announced and Tails looked up in shock. "Like I said, I have been observing for a while. I have access to all my base's security cameras and have witnessed what Dark Sonic has done to her. I'm aware that Amy's loss will be tragic to you all yadda yadda, but look at the big picture for once."

"How could you even say that?!" Tails abruptly yelled, causing all eyes in the room to turn to him; some full of sympathy, some full of annoyance.

"Tails," Eggman attempted to sound understanding, "It's either Amy dies and this problem is solved once and for all, or she lives and the world is plunged into chaos with the potential loss of many lives and a new dictator."

"No no no, this is insane!" Tails cried out, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't be responsible for the death of a friend." He turned and ran towards Knuckles, no longer holding back the tears. "Knuckles, you'll be the one who has the say the incantation. Will you be able to bare it? Answer me Knuckles!"

Knuckles closed his eyes dipping his head. "As much as I don't want to…I'm starting to see things from the other perspective."

"NO!"

"There's no other way Tails." Shadow stated bluntly.

"If we don't do this now then all will be lost. Dark Sonic will take over. This leads me onto what I was talking about earlier; about Sonic being stupid." Eggman interjected.

Tails narrowed his eyes, baring his teeth. "There you go with the petty insults. Is that what this is all about? Rivalry? If Amy dies, then who knows what Sonic will do. He'll be devastated. Is this your idea of some sort of revenge? To finish what you started with Amy and then get Sonic weak enough before you defeat him? Knuckles was right, this is all one big trick."

Eggman tapped his fingers against his desk impatiently as Tails rambled on with tears streaming down his face, pleading for the others to say something to agree with him.

"Even though I won't deny that's not a bad idea…" Eggman was quickly silenced by a glare from Shadow and Knuckles. "You're simply mistaken. I don't want Dark Sonic taking over the world and if working with you is what it takes to get things back to normal, then so be it. Now, back to my previous point – "

"But it won't be normal!" Tails shrieked, interrupting Eggman. "Amy will probably be dead and Sonic…I could never forgive myself." He burst into another round of tears and quickly fled from the room.

Rouge sighed impatiently, turning her head away while Knuckles continued to look down sadly. Shadow gave away no emotion as he stared at the door Tails had disappeared before looking back towards Eggman on the screen.

"We'll need some time to figure things out." Shadow said as he walked closer to the screen.

"Talk some sense into the fox." Eggman demanded. "Deep down he knows that this is the only way. The right thing to do for everyone."

"It's not that simple." Knuckles growled out. "If you had a heart then you would know that."

"I guess he'll just have to watch the next few hours play out then. I'll give you twenty four hours. Then I'll demand your decision." Eggman offered before the screen cut to black, leaving nothing but silence in the room. No one moved or made any sound. The three of them were froze in place as they each debated in their minds about the events that had just transpired. It was a tough situation, but they knew they had no choice. They had to stop the emeralds from fuelling Dark Sonic's power. It will be a tragic loss, but one life compared to millions of others…to them now it seemed only right. Dark Sonic was out of control.

He had to be stopped, no matter the cost.

.

"Tails, dear?" Vanilla asked as she observed the fox standing in the doorway with a crestfallen expression. "Is everything ok?"

Tails sniffed, his weight collapsing against the metal doorframe, the thud echoing around the room. Cream looked up from doodling on the large whiteboard and gazed at Tails with concerned filled eyes.

"Mr. Tails? What's the matter? Are Sonic and Amy ok?" She asked innocently, worry coating her voice as she took a step towards Tails.

Vanilla noted Tails flinching at the mention of their names and turned to Cream. "Cream, sweetheart, why don't you go and visit the others? I think Tails needs a bit of space."

"Ok, mother." Cream smiled sweetly. "Just don't move around too much, you're still recovering."

"Don't worry my little nurse, I'll be alright." Vanilla smiled at her daughter reassuringly.

Cream nodded, satisfied with her mother's answer before skipping out of the room.

Tails let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding when the young rabbit left the room. Fresh tears pooled in his sore eyes, his whole frame shook slightly as he tried to keep himself together. Vanilla sat up in her hospital bed, her brown eyes filled with overwhelming sorrow at seeing Tails' suffering.

"T-they want to let Amy…d-die." Tails choked out as he tried to contain his sobs. "They're seriously considering it."

"Oh Tails, I'm sure it's not as simple as that." Vanilla tried to reassure him.

"But ultimately that's what it is." Tails' ears drooped as he took note of how weak Vanilla still looked. The Lieutenant had done this. That same guy from the news. He was the real enemy, not Dark Sonic.

"They don't want Amy to die any more than you do." Vanilla explained as tears formed in her eyes at the idea of Amy dying. "They just want to do what's best for everyone."

"How can that be thinking of what's best for everyone when Amy and Sonic are going to suffer the most. Not to mention me. I'll never be able to forgive myself if I give this plan the go-ahead." Tails whimpered. "I can't do it."

"I understand Tails." Vanilla wiped away her tears with her fingers. "This is tough on all of us. But together we will be able to overcome it. We always do. The world always has a funny way of righting wrongs."

Tails sighed. "It's not that simple this time. Dark Sonic wants to overthrow the world and establish some sort of new world order. The others want to stop him, but I don't have it in me to hurt my best friend. He saved me the other day. In that moment I saw Sonic, not the dark monster he's become. He's still in there deep down. If we do this, we'll lose Amy too. The link between her and Sonic will be severed once the energy is disturbed. It's that link that seems to be keeping her alive. She'll die."

Vanilla watched him sympathetically as he spoke, listening attentively before looking down as she thought about things.

"Maybe this is for the best then." She finally announced.

Tails' head snapped up to look at her in horror.

"Hear me out." She held up a hand, pleading with him. "If Dark Sonic is allowed to get away, he'll take over the world. Imagine how the real Sonic would feel about that. Would he want you to let him do that? It's not right. No one can control everything; it's too much. And then there's Amy. You've seen how much she has been suffering while she remains linked to Dark Sonic. Is it really fair to let her continue to live this way? And if she knew that her death would save the world, then you know she'd gladly go. She was supposed to die that night in the hospital until Dark Sonic intervened. We need to let Amy rest in peace now."

Tails remained quiet as Vanilla's words sunk in. It frustrated him that deep down he knew that she was right. It wasn't fair to let the rest of the world suffer and he knew that if Amy were here, she'd be threatening him with her hammer right now, begging him to do this if it meant saving Sonic and the world. But still, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. To see the look in Sonic's eyes when he told him what they had done in order to bring him back. Finding Amy's dead lifeless body when this whole thing was over. Tails felt like vomiting at the thought.

Feeling hopeless, he collapsed onto his knees on the ground.

"It's hopeless."

.

"So, they've found us have they?" Dark Sonic smirked as the GUN soldier in front of him sweated nervously. The human male gulped and nodded as Dark Sonic's aura pulsed.

"Yes." He answered. "They're marching and flying here as we speak. They're going to attempt to surround us."

Dark Sonic floated upwards slightly, his smirk widening as he licked his lips. "Perfect."

"What are we going to do?" The soldier asked, shrinking away from Dark Sonic slightly.

"I can't believe you just asked that." Dark Sonic chuckled. "We're going to fight back of course. No longer shall you hide. No longer shall evil be allowed to pollute the world. Oh, and the Lieutenant is mine."

"R-right."

Dark Sonic turned to face the sealed opening of the base. This was finally it. They would all be brought to their knees in front of him. The Lieutenant's head was his. One less thorn in his side.

"Let the battle begin."

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	26. Fight For a New World

**What's this? A faster update? It took less than a month this time. Wowzers, I even impressed myself. But yeah, my exams are over! Hurray! Thank you thank you thank you for all of the lovely reviews and messages and all that. Aliixo, you better stay away from me with that pineapple! Now for a chapter a lot of you have been waiting for. **

**WARNING for intense violence later in this chapter for those who aren't fond of it. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**26: Fight For a New World**

The throbbing just wouldn't stop. No matter how hard Amy pressed her hands against her head, dug her fingers through her quills and curled her nails into her scalp; nothing helped. She tucked herself further into the foetal position, biting her lip as hard as she could in an effort to prevent herself from screaming. She felt like she had been like this too many times now. A fog swirled around in her mind. Every now and then she felt like she was going to break through, but it was hopeless.

Dark Sonic's thoughts were becoming quieter and quieter by the second and she knew it was only a matter of time before he came back. Earlier, when she had tried to escape, Amy had really felt like she'd made a breakthrough in regaining control over herself when Dark Sonic filled her body with his energy. That was until her head felt like it was going to explode. The pain of fighting off the link between them, rapidly using up the energy he had polluted her body with reminded her of when Eggman had beat her on the back of the head.

The grip Amy had on her head and the tense position she was laid in began to relax. It was hopeless. She wasn't strong enough to fight him off. Dark Sonic was going to win. He was going to take over. There was no Sonic left in him at all. There was only darkness. If that was true then Amy didn't want to go on. She couldn't live in a world without Sonic. She couldn't live with what she had done to him.

She wanted to die.

Images of Dark Sonic's twisted smile filled her mind. His glowing eyes pierced through her memory, staring right at her with arrogance. Only this wasn't Sonic's normal arrogance; playful and light-hearted. This arrogance was spiteful, taunting, mocking the person before him as he viewed himself as superior. His intense delusions of grandeur made Amy sick to her stomach. The negative chaos energy had taken every bad aspect of his personality and exaggerated them, repressing his good qualities and bringing out the worst in him. This version of Sonic do not mean well. No matter how much Dark Sonic protested that he did. There was no room for consideration when you were filled with negative chaos energy. His mind was warped, his heart was dark. No one would be safe with him as the 'protector' of the planet.

Amy tensed up again with her new found determination. She had created this mess. Now it was up to her to clean it up. Yes. Amy couldn't afford to give up now. Dark Sonic would be taken down and it would only be right if it was done by her. Whimpering at what she was thinking, she knew that she would have to make his death as quick as possible. She would kill Dark Sonic and then she would kill herself afterwards. It seemed to be the only right option. There was nothing else she could do. Sonic was beyond saving. The least she could do after what she had done was honour him by protecting the world from himself. She knew that if Sonic could see himself, he would beg to be stopped. Her love couldn't suffer anymore. Soon they would both be free.

The door to her cell slowly heaved open, but Amy remained motionless, her back facing it. Her eyes gazed up to see his silhouette blocking the light from the hall in her dimly lit cell. He stood there for a few seconds and Amy could feel his white eyes burning holes in her back. Her eyes narrowed at his shadow wishing with all her heart that the normal Sonic would appear. That this was all just a bad dream and that he was ok. But no. His quills pointed upwards and the dark thick mist that surrounded him danced off him like flames, only these brought with them no light or warmth as they blocked out the light. Only cold, fear and hopelessness.

"Why so still Amy?" Dark Sonic asked her, his fake caring tone could not disguise that twisted playfulness and arrogance of his voice. "Normally you're always so excited to see me. No hug? No kiss? That's very unlike you."

His shadow began to get larger as he floated towards her. She dug her fingers into the cold metal floor, her eyes locked on his form as she kept as still as possible. His tone of voice disgusted her. This was a monster merely using Sonic's voice. The real Sonic would never do this.

Dark Sonic sighed at her lack of response. "Oh I miss the old Amy."

_Right back at you,_ Amy thought nastily as her heart rate began to increase, but she fought down the fear and waited to see what Dark Sonic did. She still had some negative energy in her. It swam around her mind, clouding it. Then again, he was probably reading her mind right now. This could all be for nothing. So why wasn't he reacting? _Hello?_ Amy tested, but Dark Sonic remained silent. Was this a trick to see what she would do? Either way, she had to try and do something.

Mustering up all her last ounces of strength, Amy summoned her hammer. Twisting her body up and around, she swung for him wildly, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Yet she never felt her hammer make contact.

Amy gasped and opened her eyes to see Dark Sonic standing at the other side of the cell, smiling at her. He leaned cockily against the wall, crossing his arms as he did so, a playful, unoffended expression on his face.

"I'm trying to help you and this is how you treat me?" Dark Sonic almost sounded giddy as he said this. "I used to be so fearful of that hammer and now it is nothing to me. It's something I've always admired about you Amy. How fierce you can be with that weapon."

Amy growled. Flattery would get him nowhere. She was about to swing again before she winced and gently rubbed the spot at the back of her head.

"Does it hurt?" Dark Sonic asked, his voice suddenly full of concern as his mood took a dramatic switch. "Come here."

"I'm not coming anywhere near you!" Amy hissed, doing her best to ignore the pain as she raised her hammer in front of her once again.

"I'm not really giving you much choice." Dark Sonic barked. "I'm trying to help you."

"Lies!" Amy screamed. "It hurts Sonic, it really hurts. I can't be in your mind for another second! I can't take it. How can that be for my protection? You're a sick and twisted monster!"

Dark Sonic unfolded his arms at her words. His eyes narrowed and his posture became stiff.

"Monster?" Dark Sonic repeated in disbelief. "Eggman is the one who did this to you. Shadow is the one who got you into this situation and you're calling me the monster?! I'm the one who's helping you, I'm the one who's protecting you! I'm the good guy here!"

Amy let out a shriek of horror. "You consider yourself good after all this?!"

"GUN soldiers are marching here right now as we speak." Dark Sonic said seriously. "They're coming here to slaughter us all. There are little children down in that base. Innocent people who haven't done anything wrong."

Amy remained silent as tears began streaming down her cheeks. Those soldiers were coming here? Images of Vanilla being shot flashed in her mind, her vision turning as red as the blood that was dripping out of Vanilla's wound. The same people who slaughtered all of those people on the ark. They never learned.

"Now do you see?" Dark Sonic finally whispered after silently watching her. "I can put a stop to this."

Amy couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"I will slaughter them before they slaughter us."

"What?" Amy gasped.

"Every single one of them." Dark Sonic chuckled, his mind seeming to be in a faraway place, visioning the future battle. "They will pay for what they have done. I want to create a lake of blood. A mountain of corpses of those who dare to taint the world with evil. They will serve as an example to anyone who goes against my peaceful world."

Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing. The image Dark Sonic had described made her feel sick to her stomach. This wasn't him. Sonic would stop them, sure. But he wouldn't dream of taking them out in such a violent way…and enjoying it.

"You're insane." Was all Amy could say. Her voice sounded weak as it cracked with emotion. "You'll be no better than them!"

Dark Sonic frowned at her. "What's so bad about giving them a taste of their own medicine?"

Amy shook her head furiously. It made the pain worse, but in that moment, she didn't care. Without thinking, she swung her hammer at him again. Dark Sonic easily dodged, moving across the room so fast, it was almost as if he was teleporting. Amy growled in seething anger, swinging for him again, harder and faster than before.

"And yet you try and harm me now." Dark Sonic sighed. "Is that not a bit hypocritical of you?"

"This is for the good of the whole world though." Amy snapped through clenched teeth.

"That's exactly my point!" Dark Sonic yelled, his body shaking slightly. "You're criticising me for the same reasons you're using! I never had you down as a hypocrite Amy."

Amy glared at him. Her heart beat drummed in her ears and her whole body shook in anger and fear. She panted heavily, holding her hammer in both hands. "I'm not the one talking about gruesome genocide. Isn't making people see sense the proper way?"

Dark Sonic chuckled. "Sweet, little, naïve Amy. People cannot be reasoned out of evil."

Amy swung again, but this time instead of running away, Dark Sonic intercepted her. He grabbed the handle of her hammer in a tight grip, raising it above him so he could look Amy in the eye.

"I'm doing this for us you know." Dark Sonic whispered and Amy froze at the intensity of his eyes and voice. "So that you can live in a safe world free from worries."

"That doesn't mean you have to murder people." Amy snapped before her voice became pleading. "Please, Sonic. Just change back to your old self. Then all of this mess can end. Then I won't have to –"

"Have to what?" Dark Sonic narrowed his eyes.

_So, he really has no idea? _Amy thought to herself in confusion.

"Sonic, please, just stop." She whimpered.

"I'm never letting go of this power. How can I?" Dark Sonic asserted with a slight smile on his face. "With it I can do anything. I can finally rid the world of evil. I can protect you better than I ever did before."

"Why do you keep bringing me into this?!" Amy yelled, trying to yank her hammer, but it wouldn't budge. Her vision was begging to blur even more. The glowing white eyes of Dark Sonic were the only clear things she could see as they burned into her, as if she was staring directly at the sun.

Dark Sonic leaned down to gently whisper in her ear, "Because I love you."

_Crack. _Amy felt like her entire world had just cracked before shattering into a million tiny pieces, floating around her, piercing her skin and making her bleed from every inch of her body. Those words. Those words for so long she had wanted to hear from Sonic's lips. Sonic's. Not Dark Sonic's. But they were one in the same weren't they? Amy knew that she had originally been right. This was the real Sonic. A few moments ago, she had been furiously denying it. Trying to find excuses for his actions. Anything that would justify them, to force herself to believe that it wasn't Sonic that was doing all of this. That he was possessed. But the truth was, he wasn't possessed. This was him. The notes she remembered reading about project darkness proved that. The negative energy had brought out his subconscious; his basic instincts. It was like the negative energy had turned him inside out, bringing his inner demons to the forefront of his mind and enhancing them.

Amy felt herself go limp as she let go of her hammer and collapsed onto her knees at Dark Sonic's feet. "Why?" She gasped as it felt like her heart was being squeezed tightly in her chest as it pulsated in the vice like grip. "Why do you do this to me?"

The sharp stab of pain slammed into her skull again and this time, Amy couldn't control her cries of pain. She fell forward onto Dark Sonic's legs who gently touched the back of her head where the pain was.

"You see what Eggman has done to you? That is your wound beginning to re-form." Dark Sonic explained with malice in his voice. "Transferring my energy to you was not so I could merely keep an eye on you. It helps keep your head injuries healed."

Amy whimpered slightly in fright before Dark Sonic captured the sound by pressing his lips against hers. She felt herself going limp in his arms as the pain began to disappear. Their lips slowly parted and Dark Sonic gently caught her as she fell unconscious. He carefully placed her down and stroked one of her quills delicately before making his way out. Slowly and quietly, he shut the cell door behind him and just stared at the heavy metal for a while. His thoughts were soon interrupted as his ear twitched at the sound of someone running down the corridor towards him.

"Sonic!" He heard the former GUN soldier pant as he approached. "They're here! They're going to attempt to break in."

Dark Sonic smiled happily. "Then we must go and greet them." He floated down the corridor without another word, leaving the soldier behind. "This is where it all ends." He growled to himself.

The main entrance soon came into view where all the soldiers were beginning to line up. Frightened civilians scrambled back, whimpering and crying with worry as they braced themselves for what was about to happen. Dark Sonic hovered in front of the entrance, glaring at the plain, light metal that concealed the enemy that believed they could possibly take him down. He smirked as he imagined the looks on their faces once they were easily defeated. The horror and fear in their eyes as he tore them apart, slowly and painfully to pay for what they had done.

"Open the door!" Dark Sonic ordered, his eyes never once straying from the direction in front of him.

"But, then they'll be able to get in." One of the soldiers called back.

Dark Sonic finally turned around to snarl at them, "Just do it!"

No one else dared to argue and Dark Sonic smiled in satisfaction as the door began to open upwards. The daylight was bright as the sun shone directly ahead of them, filling the base with the sudden rays of white light. The GUN soldiers were positioned on the hill below, staring up at them and aiming their weapons. The Lieutenant's purple hair stood out as it shone in the sun and Dark Sonic's eyes immediately locked onto him. Despite the distance, their eyes met, exchanging unspoken promises of death.

Dark Sonic was actually slightly surprised by the limited number of soldiers behind the Lieutenant. The thought of so many soldiers abandoning the purple weasel to join him made Dark Sonic laugh out loud.

"No friends?" Dark Sonic teased arrogantly.

The Lieutenant merely grinned and shrugged in response. "Sometimes it's better to stab people in the back. Makes more of an impact that way."

Dark Sonic ignored his comments and began floating towards him. Oh, he was going to enjoy this. The Lieutenant didn't move though, not even drawing his weapon. The twenty GUN soldiers around him moved though, aiming their guns up at Dark Sonic who remained apathetic towards them.

"Not planning on running like the scum you are?" Dark Sonic taunted as he continued to gradually get closer, poised like a lion ready to pounce at any second.

The GUN soldiers gazed up at him fearfully. Their weapons shook with the rest of their bodies and Dark Sonic could see the sweat glistening off them. Their fear amused him.

"I don't like to give the enemy the satisfaction." The Lieutenant conversed casually with him.

Before Dark Sonic could retaliate with another sarcastic comment, his body was flung forward by a powerful shockwave coming from behind him. The deafening sound of an explosion filled his ears and he grunted in shock as he easily righted himself. He glared down at the Lieutenant who merely smirked up at him before looking up at the damage he had caused. Dark Sonic followed his gaze to the base and his white eyes widened. Flames had sprung from the building, producing off in tall yellow and orange pillars of deadly heat. Thick black smoke began to fill the air as the planes flew off into the distance leaving nothing but destruction behind them. Large military helicopters took their place and the roar of the engines and propellers drowned out the sounds of gun fire and people screaming.

The Lieutenant laughed loudly. "See what I mean? Attacking an enemy from behind is always more fun."

"You!" Dark Sonic snarled out through clenched teeth. The dark aura around him blended into the smoke. He stared back up at the base where soldiers leapt down from the helicopters and began shooting. They clearly had better weapons and outnumbered the soldiers that were on his side. They would surely be defeated and the civilians inside would be next.

"Oh dear." The Lieutenant sighed in mock sympathy before Dark Sonic growled and flew back up there.

A wall of bodies greeted him as the first line of defence laid sprawled out on the ground below in lakes of dark red blood. The GUN soldiers passed over them like the dead were mere insects, stepping on the bodies with some making the effort to slam their feet down on the heads of the victims. They pressed the faces into the mud, some even laughing and giving each other a high five. The sight made Dark Sonic's blood boil. The soldiers continued on their way, leaving trails of bloody footprints behind them.

The second line of defence readied themselves as they crouched down. Others ducked behind pieces of scrap metal and debris from the explosion, poking their weapons over the top and around the sides. The loud and rapid sound of gun fire filled the air again. Soldiers from both sides were beginning to drop dead as the bullets pierced their fragile bodies.

Dark Sonic wasted no time and dove down as fast as he could. In a dark blur, he knocked one soldier to the ground before using the hem of his helmet to smash his face against the rocky ground. Blood spurted out of his mangled face and he let out a gargled plea before Dark Sonic smashed his head against the ground again and smiled in satisfaction as he felt the body go limp.

He grabbed the knife out of the body's belt, turning to face the soldiers who were heartlessly murdering his allies; the people who wanted a better world. Dark Sonic let out a loud growl which briefly distracted the soldiers. The dark hedgehog took pleasure out of seeing their brief expressions of fear before running by them at great speed, dragging the knife across the enemies he passed. The sound of the knife slitting their skin echoed in his mind as they screamed in agony. Dark Sonic came to a sudden stop and smiled as he heard the bodies drop to the floor behind him.

But he had no time to relish in this as the screams of civilians caught his attention. He turned to see many anthros running from the base. Some of them began choking on the smoke, while others tripped and fell as the smoke clouded their vision. A few soon dropped to the floor as a new wave of gunfire sounded from behind them. Adults, the elderly and children were repeatedly shot at and Dark Sonic let out an animalistic shriek. He dashed over, diving protectively in front of them as the survivors either continued to run, stopped to aid wounded loved ones or tearfully tried to pry a response out of the dead. Their yells and cries became silent to Dark Sonic as he murderously focused on the soldiers that were running towards him, still shooting their weapons. The bullets bounced off him as if he was made of the strongest metal and with each bullet hitting his body, Dark Sonic's glare deepened. His body shook as the soldiers began to stop in their tracks at the sight with some even turning to run in the opposite direction, crying out in fear. Good. Dark Sonic began to smirk at the sight of his enemies in such a state. These remorseless killers, monsters, vermin…they needed to pay.

Mercilessly, Dark Sonic savagely pounced on a group of them, using his negative energy to easily tear into them as if they were made of soft butter. His gloves and fur became soaked in blood as the mutilated remains of the soldiers dropped to the ground in heaps of flesh that Dark Sonic regarded with a disgusted and angry expression. He would have loved to have spent more time making this even more painful than this, but right now he had much bigger things to deal with.

With that thought spurring him on, Dark Sonic abruptly turned and flew back in the direction of the Lieutenant. He was at his previous position within the blink of an eye, frowning at the spot where the Lieutenant had been minutes before. Coward. It looked like he'd noticed he was fighting a losing battle and fled. But he couldn't have possibly gotten far in such a short space of time.

The sounds of a helicopter made Dark Sonic's ear twitch and he looked up to see the Lieutenant and a few other surviving GUN soldiers climbing a rope ladder in a bid to escape onto the helicopter. _Morons, _Dark Sonic chuckled to himself. He was practically in arm's reach and the thought made him giddy with excitement. This ended right here, right now.

At supersonic speed, Dark Sonic flew up towards them before stopping to hover next to the Lieutenant who yelped in fear.

"You were right," Dark Sonic teased with a large grin on his muzzle, "Attacking an enemy from behind is more fun."

The Lieutenant gasped as Dark Sonic grabbed him by his purple hair and pulled him with him. He clung onto the rope ladder, screaming and begging for the soldiers to help him before Dark Sonic easily pulled him away as if he was a mere small child.

"The Lieutenant!" One of the soldier's cried out. "Take us back down! We need to help him." He ordered.

Dark Sonic landed back on the ground, glaring right into the Lieutenant's eyes as he struggled to break free of Dark Sonic's steel grasp.

"Now you pay." Dark Sonic snarled like an animal.

"No!" The Lieutenant begged pathetically. "Please, I'm sorry!"

"Too late!" Dark Sonic hissed back.

Dark Sonic used his foot to pin the Lieutenant's legs to the ground while using one of his hands to keep his shoulder in place. With the hand that still had hold of the Lieutenant's hair, he yanked the thick locks backwards. He shifted the hand on his shoulder to press it against the base of the Lieutenant's neck and pushed forwards. The Lieutenant attempted to let out a last strangled plea, but it only came out as a pitiful and broken gasp of air. The sound of his spine beginning to crack under pressure was music to Dark Sonic's ears and he smiled at the sight of the skin at the base of his neck beginning to tear. Blood trickled down onto his already blood stained hands, but this stain he would cherish. He would cherish every last memory of the defeat of this pathetic and monstrous murderer. The spine bone finally snapped under the gradual increase in pressure. The Lieutenant tried to scream, but it only came out as a gargle as blood flooded the back of his throat, making him choke.

Like a boar constrictor, Dark Sonic added more pressure again, this time snapping the spinal cord. Instantly, the Lieutenant's body became still and the life left his eyes that remained open, still displaying the terror of his dying moment. With one final flick on his wrist, Dark Sonic snapped his head off completely with a sickening crack. The body fell limply to the ground as blood oozed from the stump of the neck that part of the spine still stuck out of, fingers still twitched slightly and the skin turned pale.

Dark Sonic held the head up slightly and chuckled. He was finally dead. And he had enjoyed every minute of it. His begs and pleas replayed in his mind and his eyes drifted closed in satisfaction.

Now his new world that was free of evil and full of nothing but peace could begin.

* * *

…**I think I may have got a bit carried away. Ah well, this **_**is **_**what a lot of you wanted and have been nagging me for. You think I'm finished? Just you wait and see! Feel free to leave your opinions. **


	27. The Grand Alliance

**Greetings! Looks like my end of June plan was a little ambitious given that it is practically the end of June right now. *coughs awkwardly* **

**Thanks for all the reviews. Feedback is always much appreciated. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**27: The Grand Alliance **

"'Ease…"Was all the GUN soldier could say in a shaky voice. Blood continued to dribble out of his mouth as he spoke, his words slightly slurred as many of his teeth were now missing. It trickled towards his eyes like red tears as his body was strung upside down, his hands and feet tied together. The soldier's pleas were interrupted by a sharp smack to the cheek, his face flew sideways in the process.

"How ironic," Dark Sonic sneered, "I imagine that those were the very words your victims used as you persecuted hundreds of innocent anthros. It's not nice to be on the receiving end is it?" He said the last part with mock sympathy, pouting slightly.

"No." Dark Sonic answered his own question before growling and punching the solider, breaking his nose and causing more blood to stain his face. "So I don't know how you can have the nerve to beg me for mercy!"

The words the soldier had just used…they made him feel sick. There the soldier was…playing the victim when in reality he was the cause of this. He killed those innocent people. He could've chose not to. Plenty of other soldiers did this, but he chose not to. He chose to be a pawn of the Lieutenant. Dark Sonic replayed his death over and over again in his mind as if it was his favourite movie. What a glorious feeling that gave him. He looked down at his gloved hands; the blood was still there. It had dried into the fabric, but it was still there…and he was going to treasure it. Slowly, he clenched his fist, closed his eyes and sighed. Now that he had been dealt with, he needed to find his arch enemy: Doctor Eggman. He would tear the whole planet apart if that's what it took to find him.

His thoughts were interrupted though, by the slurred speech of the soldier.

"W-We were jus'…followin' or-ers."

Dark Sonic's eyes snapped back open, the white orbs gazing upon the terrified face of the soldier who was still swinging back and forth slightly from the force of Dark Sonic's punch. His face was now completely covered in blood. It trickled into his hair, slowly making its way down to the ends of his hair before dripping delicately onto the metal floor of the large cell.

In a lightning fast motion, Dark Sonic struck the soldier again, growling and snarling insanely, his eyes wide as he processed the soldier's words.

"Just following orders hmmm?" Dark Sonic's voice went a pitch higher as he spoke. His whole body began to shake and the dark mist around him seemed to grow thicker. He grabbed the soldier's cheeks between his thumb and fingers before angling him to face the rest of the room behind him. The soldier squealed as best he could with the limited face movement. He tried his best to look away, but Dark Sonic forced his head to be still effortlessly.

"You mean all of them were just following orders too?" Dark Sonic stared gleefully at the corpses strung up behind him, all the while pretending to sound surprised. "Then I guess I've made a huge mistake." He added sarcastically.

This was the last GUN solider he could find from the area. The few that were still alive after the battle had been brought to him and Dark Sonic wasted no time in giving them _special treatment. _Most of the soldiers that had switched to his side, he sent to GUN headquarters to finish GUN off once and for all and capture the Commander. Now the world could be free from those pests. They would never harm the innocent again. One by one, the villains of the world would fall. The planet would surrender to his ideology. People will be free. He didn't care what it would take now.

Of course soon enough, the rest of his friends would see this. They can't remain in hiding forever. Their individual faces flashed in his mind: Cream, Rouge, Shadow, Knuckles…Tails. They thought they could stop him. He knew they would want to take his power away so he stole the master emerald before anything could be done. Dark Sonic stared down at his darkened body, pondering. How could he ever give up this power? For so long, he had never used the full potential of the chaos emeralds. What had he been so afraid of? The negative energy was more than safe in his hands. It gave him the power to re-shape the world.

Dark Sonic looked back up at the soldier, soon realising that his grip had unconsciously tightened and that the soldier's jaw now broken.

"Oops, my bad." Dark Sonic chuckled before turning instantly serious again and punching the soldier. "You have the ability to know right from wrong! I can't stand it when people blindly follow others; especially if their leader is evil."

The soldier's eyes began to drift closed and Dark Sonic growled, punching him again and again in a blind rage as if the soldier was a punch bag. "Are you even listening to me? Is the lesson not sinking in? You've killed people!"

"S-s-so have you…" The soldier's eyes now closed for eternity and Dark Sonic glared at the new corpse in his collection. What a weakling. That one barely lasted five minutes. This one got off too easy for his liking.

Dark Sonic punched the body one last time and stared at it as it swung in the silence of the room. His ear twitched as he heard movement coming down the corridor so he slowly floated out of the room, sealing the door behind him. The corpses would be strung there forever for all he cared. They didn't deserve to be buried. They didn't deserve to rest in peace.

He turned his head to the sound of the four sets of footsteps. Three soldiers came around the corridor towards him, along with a very familiar tall GUN solider in the middle. Familiar grey hair, each eye a different colour; the Commander. Dark Sonic grinned as they approached and at the sight of the two back soldiers with their hands on the Commander's arms, making sure he did not escape. The third soldier led the way down the corridor before he stopped them all in front of Dark Sonic.

"I see you captured the Commander like I asked, good job." Dark Sonic praised as he smirked at the Commander, who glared back in response.

"Are you going to kill me just as barbarically as the Lieutenant?" The Commander demanded.

Dark Sonic pretended to think for a moment. "No. In fact I have something very special planned for you."

The Commander's eyes narrowed. "You certainly have changed Sonic."

"For the better, Commander, for the better." Dark Sonic replied before gesturing towards an empty cell. "Throw him in there and lock the door."

The soldier's didn't even need to drag the Commander towards the cell as he walked into it willingly with his head held up high and his hands clasped behind his back.

"Confident are we?" Dark Sonic noted with a smirk.

"I just have some dignity." The Commander responded as the door was sealed shut behind him.

Dark Sonic pretended to look offended before turning to the soldiers. "We can't afford to waste any more time now. We need to find Eggman along with Tails and the others."

"Why Tails and the others?" One soldier asked.

Dark Sonic looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Because they're my friends and like it or not, they're going to help me create a better world. We'll break into the base they're staying at, we need a new one anyway; this one is half destroyed thanks to GUN scum."

The soldiers exchanged a glance.

"But luckily we don't have to worry about GUN anymore, right?" Dark Sonic said as he began to float down the corridor towards Amy's cell. "Now that you've disposed of every last soldier there like I ordered."

"RELEASE THE COMMANDER!" A booming voice demanded from behind them all.

Dark Sonic froze before his body relaxed in boredom, his eyes narrowed as he slowly turned around. A small group of GUN soldiers were positioned at the entrance to the corridor. Two of them were crouched while the other four stood, all of them aiming their weapons at Dark Sonic who regarded them with an expression of deep malice.

"Seems you didn't follow my orders precisely." Dark Sonic growled out through clenched teeth and the three soldiers stood back in fear, standing closer together, well out of the way of the path between Dark Sonic and the GUN soldiers.

"I WON'T ASK AGAIN!" The same voice yelled. "RELEASE THE COMMANDER!"

"Or else?" Dark Sonic goaded.

The soldiers immediately began shooting at him. The loud gun fire echoed down the corridor so loudly, the soldiers covered their ears. Dark Sonic remained motionless as the bullets once again merely bounced off him. With each bullet that hit him, his expression only seemed to get angrier and angrier. Some of the GUN soldiers paused to re-load and Dark Sonic sped down the corridor towards them. The GUN soldiers yelled in terror as he appeared to almost materialise in front of them. They continued to fire at him before Dark Sonic grabbed the wrists of the two soldiers at the front and easily snapped them. They cried out and dropped their guns to the ground out of reflex. Dark Sonic then swiftly moved his hands up, clasping their necks and forced them back, slamming their heads against the ground. _Crack. _Their skulls shattered in unison, forming a pool of blood beneath them. Their eyes remained wide open with ghostly expressions of horror.

Dark Sonic looked back up at the remaining, frozen GUN soldiers. Their weapons dropped out of their shaky hands, their faces pale, eyes wide. Dark Sonic smiled at them. Good. They should be afraid. Out of all the GUN soldiers he'd battled, these seemed to be the wisest and knew when things were hopeless. Maybe for that reason, he'd make their deaths quicker.

Moving faster than they could react, Dark Sonic stole the knife from one of the dead soldier's belts and in one clean stroke, he slit the throats of the remaining soldiers. All that could be heard in the corridor, free from the loud sound of gunfire, was the sound of the knife piercing their skin the muscle and the cut off gasps of the soldiers. Waterfalls of blood cascaded down their necks. Their knees buckled, all of them falling to the ground with a thud.

Dark Sonic turned away from them nonchalantly, as if nothing had even happened before he slammed slammed his fist against the door of the Commander's cell thrice.

"Seems like your little rescue party failed Commander." Dark Sonic yelled gleefully through the door. He slammed his fist once again on the door when he got no response, huffing to himself before glaring at the soldiers who were still cowering against the wall of the corridor.

"I gave you specific instructions." Dark Sonic growled out. "And you ignored them?"

The middle soldier put on a brave face and stepped forward. Dark Sonic looked him up and down, his frown deepening.

"Sonic – "

"YOU IDIOTS!" Dark Sonic bellowed, interrupting the soldier. "YOU LET THEM GO AND THEN LED THEM RIGHT TO US! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE IN THE BASE THEY COULD'VE KILLED?! IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME IF THEY HAVE!"

"Please," The soldier pleaded for Dark Sonic to listen, "The Lieutenant was the one to blame for all of this, not the whole of GUN. He's dead now, so can't we just drop this?"

"No, because look what happened!" Dark Sonic responded. He took a step forward, causing the soldiers to flinch. He raised his finger and bared his teeth in rage. "They're always going to come after us. They're always going to try and take away our freedom and hurt people. That's why I ordered you to kill them all!"

"B-but Sonic," The soldier begged fearfully, "Some of those people we have worked with for years. They had no weapons, they were unarmed; it didn't seem fair."

"I don't care," Dark Sonic clasped his hands around the soldier's throat. He began choking in his vice like grip and Dark Sonic squeezed him tighter, preventing any movement. "Everything I say is for the best, why can't anybody understand that?!" Dark Sonic's voice shook maniacally as he spoke.

The soldier tried his best to claw at Dark Sonic's hands. His terrified eyes locked with Dark Sonic's rage filled white ones. Dark Sonic began shaking the soldier slightly with his brute strength and he made gasping sounds as he struggled for air, his face turning pale.

"Good people will always be in danger and that's what I'm trying to stop." Dark Sonic growled. "Do you hear what I'm saying? I'm trying to help people and your foolish mistakes are getting in the way. Are you hiding Eggman away from me as well, huh? You let the evil soldiers live, so it wouldn't surprise me if you would do the same for Eggman."

Dark Sonic's grip tightened even more, crushing the soldier's windpipe as he let out one final gasp for air. His body went limp in Dark Sonic's hands. His eyes closed before Dark Sonic dropped the body as if he had just touched something that was burning hot. A fleeting expression of horror crossed his features so quickly, that if you were to blink, you'd miss it. Anger chiselled its way onto his face again before he let out a growl and turned to face the other two soldiers who both looked like they were about to either throw up or pass out.

"No more mistakes." Dark Sonic demanded lowly before screaming, "YOU GOT THAT?!"

The two soldiers nodded as fast as they could, watching in frozen horror as Dark Sonic turned and floated down the corridor.

.

"_There were some shocking scenes today as GUN attempted to attack Dark Sonic's hideout where he was keeping many soldiers and anthros captive for his own sadistic use. Dark Sonic easily overpowered them and captured the Commander. GUN has now fallen –"_

"Stupid media, twisting the facts."

Everyone in the room apart from Shadow jumped at the sudden sound of Eggman's voice filling the room. They turned away from the TV that they had all gathered around and gazed up at the large screen behind them where a tired looking Eggman had appeared.

"How did you hack us?" Tails demanded. "I put up defences in the system – "

"It's my system fox boy," Eggman sneered, "I designed it and know the way around it better than the back of my hand. There's no way you can block me out with your pathetic attempts. I told you, I'd be seeing you again in twenty-four hours."

Tails' only response was a glare as he folded his arms and his tails twitched in irritation. Eggman's face was the last one he wanted to see. Especially after the bombshell of his last appearance.

"I suspected that this report was false." Shadow narrowed his eyes at the screen. "After tracking Dark Sonic for so long, holding a large amount of people captive doesn't sound like something he would do."

"Those soldiers and anthros are there of their own free will. I've been watching and listening very closely as I've said." Eggman confirmed. "But more importantly, have you reached your decision?"

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Tails. He pretended not to notice them as he glared at the ground with his arms still folded. He'd barely had time to think about anything with all this news of Dark Sonic defeating GUN, worrying about Amy and everything else that was going on around him. The reality of the situation once again came crashing back down on him.

"Come on already," Rouge threw in her opinion, "The sooner we get this over with the better. The longer we wait, the more people get hurt."

Knuckles glared at her. "Stop being so insensitive."

"You're one to talk." Rouge snapped back. "I for one am getting tired of waiting around here and doing nothing when something can actually be done."

"She's right," Eggman sighed, "The longer we wait, the worse the situation is going to get. We can't let Dark Sonic have his way."

Tails snorted. "What, only for you to have yours?"

"Well I did try to tell you about the dangers of this yesterday before I was interrupted."

"Explain yourself, Doctor." Shadow commanded.

Eggman cleared his throat, his expression grave. "After studying Dark Sonic during this period, it was interesting to see the full effects of what project darkness has had on him. He's turned into a complete lunatic and he's out of control to put it bluntly. He's so obsessed with 'helping' people that he's not thinking things through properly, nor does he care what damage he is doing to the people who he claims to be helping."

"What are you talking about?" Tails asked nervously.

"I'm almost ashamed that we have the same IQ right now fox boy," Eggman groaned, "Come on Tails, you've seen how he's treated Amy. He's so focused on keeping her alive that he seems to have little regard for the damage that he's actually doing to her. Amy has had to witness every single twisted thought going through that pin cushion's head. She's being held against her will. Not to mention how he's killed people. I was watching this morning and he even killed one of his own allies in a blind rage. He's out of control."

A few people in the room gasped while others looked down in shock.

Tails glared up at Eggman. "Sonic would never – "

"Do that?" Eggman finished for him. "Yeah, a Sonic who was in control of himself wouldn't, but let's remember that this Sonic isn't fully in control. Dark Sonic is composed of nothing but instincts and subconscious desires and his desire is to rid the world of evil. The problem is, the negative energy has exaggerated and exasperated this desire to the point where it has grown out of control. This is why his idea of ruling the world will never work. He lacks rational thought and will be consumed by the negative and out of control aspects of his personality. Like I said, he killed someone who was on his side today through his paranoia and anger. Do you really want something like that to take control of the world? Or do you want the normal Sonic back?"

"Not that I can imagine he will ever be normal again after this." Rouge muttered.

"But…Amy…" Tails began to protest again.

"Tails, Amy's sacrifice will be for a good cause. This is what she would want." Shadow said seriously.

"I have already devised a simple plan," Eggman announced, "Dark Sonic is looking for me and the only thing that will distract him right now was if I was to appear. I will offer myself up as a diversion to lead Dark Sonic out of the base. You will then all sneak into the base. The master emerald is located in the large, storage cell 3F on the east wing of the base. I trust you'll be able to break in and disable the power of the chaos emeralds."

"Then Amy will die all on her own." Tails whimpered.

"Well, her cell is located just on the next level down in 4K. You can go to her then." Eggman suggested.

"My my, showing compassion are we Doctor?" Rouge smirked.

Eggman glared at her. "I just think it is the least I can do if you all offer to help me in my plan."

Everyone once again turned to stare at Tails, whose eyes were now fixated on the TV. The young fox watched the aerial shot of the base that Dark Sonic was currently in. The place where he had just killed many GUN soldiers. Where he's even killed one of his own supporters. Where Amy continued to be imprisoned, not just in a cell, but inside Dark Sonic's corrupted mind. Was all this fair? Tails knew deep down it wasn't and that something needed to be done. It was clear now. Dark Sonic could not be allowed to continue on like this. It was only a matter of time before he came for them. If there was a time to strike, it was now. There was no alternative.

"Let's do it." Tails mumbled sadly.

There was no cheering like every other plan in the past in their light-hearted battles against Doctor Eggman. Instead, everyone looked to one another with a haunted determination. This time, the stakes were incredibly high. Either way, they were going to have to make sacrifices. Even though Tails now believed that this was the right thing to do, it still didn't change the fact that there would be dire consequences. Tears formed in his blue eyes as the faces of Sonic and Amy flashed in his mind; their happy, smiling faces from before all of this mess had occurred.

_Sonic…Amy…forgive me…_

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinion. The next chapter should be out a lot sooner than normal. **


	28. Master Emerald Showdown

**Told ya I'd have this chapter up sooner. I can keep promises when I want to! I think the thunderstorm while I'm writing this chapter fits the mood. Man, someone has angered Zeus. Anyway, thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews! Feedback always inspires me to keep going. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**28: Master Emerald Showdown**

"Amy." Dark Sonic called out in a sing-song voice as he entered her cell. His white eyes scanned the room before they landed on the small pink hedgehog, curled up as tightly as possible and shivering in the corner. Dark Sonic then sighed as he walked over to her more cautiously than normal.

Amy didn't respond and curled herself up impossibly tighter, refusing to look up and acknowledge his presence. This only served to frustrate him though as he bent down next to her and placed a hand on her arm. The fresh blood on his hands trickled onto her arm, dripping off it. At the feeling of this, Amy finally gasped and looked up. Pure horror dominated her normally cheerful features. Her face turned pale as she tried to push herself further into the corner, as if in the hopes that the cell wall would somehow consume her and swallow her up, never to be seen again.

"I wanted to believe it wasn't true." Amy whispered and gagged, closing her eyes as tightly as possible and tilted her head away from Dark Sonic.

"What wasn't true?" Dark Sonic asked as he held Amy's arm tighter.

"That you would hurt…kill all those people." Amy whimpered. "How? How could you do such a thing?" She added, beginning to sound slightly hysterical.

"Amy, we've been through this," Dark Sonic sighed, "It's in the world's best interest."

Amy shook her head. "No," She gasped out. "You're sick…SICK!" Amy opened her eyes as she yelled and attempted to push Dark Sonic away from her, but he wouldn't budge.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled. "BRING THE NORMAL SONIC BACK!"

Dark Sonic growled in annoyance, his grip on her arm now becoming painfully tight. "How many times do I have to tell you? This is the real me! Now and forever."

"Sonic, please," Amy begged as she began to cry, "You can't want this. Not really. This isn't what you'd do."

"Don't presume!"

Amy flinched slightly, but stood her ground. "I'm not though, am I? I know you Sonic. You'd never cause such harm to people. Especially to the innocent man you just killed!"

Dark Sonic remained silent as his whole frame turned stiff.

"Please, Sonic," Amy begged again, "Just let me help you. We can get rid of the negative energy together."

Dark Sonic continued to remain silent before he finally shifted slightly and glared at her. "No." he said in a final tone and Amy glared back at him.

"So you wanna be a lunatic forever then?" She snapped. "I've been inside your head Sonic, I know what little control you have. You can't help but lash out first. I can't stand being in your head. So I know you can't stand it either."

Dark Sonic stood up, his glare never left hers. "Like I said: don't presume."

He then began pacing the cell as usual and Amy slowly uncurled herself out of her position before standing up. She couldn't afford to be afraid of him anymore. No matter how times her heart jolted and her instincts told her to run and hide when she caught sight of his blood stained gloves and fur; she had to stand her ground.

"I'm not presuming and you know it." Amy snapped. "I want to help you." She added, saying each word sharply.

Dark Sonic snarled, "Well I don't need your help." He then sighed and smiled a twisted smile at her, a smile so different from his usual happy, carefree one. "You know, if only the whole world was populated with people like you. People like you who are so good, nice and helpful. Is that so bad?"

"No, but it's just the way you're doing it." Amy scolded as she fought off the disgusting images that threatened to pollute her mind. The disgusting images of…what he did. It made her physically sick to think that he had done that. But then Amy was reminded once again that this was her fault. If she hadn't been so eager to impress Sonic and joined Shadow's stupid mission then none of this would have happened. She had given Eggman exactly what he wanted. She had made him this way.

"And I'm to blame." Amy mumbled and Dark Sonic's eyes widened at her sudden change in tone. "I'm the one who made you like this."

Amy gasped as she felt Dark Sonic placed a hand under her chin before he tilted her head up and pressed his lips against hers. What would be the point in fighting? So she stood there, unresponsive as he kissed her and forced her lips apart. He transferred some of his energy to her once again and it coursed through her veins. The feeling made her dizzy as it went to her head, healing the injury that Eggman had inflicted on her a month before that was now threatening to return. An injury that should have killed her until Dark Sonic intervened. She wished the injury had killed her there and then. That's what should've happened. Dark Sonic had defeated the Lieutenant and there was no way of stopping him. She wasn't sure if she could live in a world where the normal Sonic had no hope of returning. No matter what, she just couldn't figure out a way to bring him back.

Dark Sonic's lips finally left hers and Amy felt her knees buckling beneath her and her mind interlinking with Dark Sonic's. He caught her as she fell, her mind spinning the whole time. Dark Sonic looked down at her barely conscious form in his arms before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and carefully placing her down on the ground.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," He sighed, "You'll soon see things my way. You and Tails and the others."

"SONIC!" The voice of one of the soldiers called out from the other side of the cell.

"What?!" Dark Sonic snapped in annoyance.

"Eggman has been spotted!" The soldier replied. "He's near the base!"

A sadistic smile crept its way onto Dark Sonic's face and his white eyes seemed to glow even brighter as this news reached his ears. He became almost twitchy with excitement before wasting no time in gliding across the room, throwing the door open and slamming it behind him as he flew off to hunt the evil scientist down.

Amy looked up from the floor weakly at where Dark Sonic had disappeared. He had left the premises. This would be a good chance for her to escape. She knew he could read her mind right now, but she didn't care.

_I'd just easily find you again you know. _

Amy growled to herself as she dug her fingers into the hard, metal ground. Even if he sounded so confident about that, she had to try. Maybe she could even find help along the way. Trying her best to push herself up, she glared determinedly at the door. Guards were behind there, she knew it, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. They wouldn't be able to use deadly force against her and they were only mere humans that were easily dealt with. She could do this. She had to. She had to get out there and get help. From where, she didn't know. But it was better than sitting in this cell and doing nothing.

Pressing her palms against the floor, she managed to push herself into a kneeling position. Colours danced across her vision as her sight blended with Dark Sonic's as he chased after Eggman. For the most part, he seemed to be ignoring her, mainly focusing on the task he had set out to do. That suited her just fine. She managed to stand up and her ears began ringing loudly. No. She couldn't be weak. One foot in front of the other. The whole world seemed to be turning sideways as she practically fell forward towards the door. Leaning against something cold and solid helped her get her bearings slightly. Concentrating hard, she summoned her piko piko hammer and held it firmly in her hand. It had been a while since she'd used her old friend properly.

Knowing she couldn't afford to waste any time, Amy swung her hammer around. The metal clanged underneath the force, but didn't break. She had merely made a small dent. Amy growled in frustration once she realised that she had no choice. It would give her less time to find help, but it was worth a shot. Closing her eyes in concentration, she once again summoned the negative energy that was inside her. It tingled in her muscles like tiny little pin pricks except it wasn't painful, it was strengthening. Her head pounded, her vision turned blurrier with the edges of her line of sight turning red. It felt as if all of her blood was rushing to her head as if she had suddenly stood up after sitting down for so long, only this was much worse. She didn't have much time.

Amy let out a yell as she swung her hammer again, this time breaking the door in half with the force also sending it flying forward. One of the guards got caught in the blast and cried out in pain as a piece of the metal door hit him, knocking him back against the wall before he fell to the floor. The two other guards stared at her, not knowing what to do.

"I think it would be wise to get back into your cell." One of them suggested, sounding unsure.

"I think not." Amy answered, hitting the soldiers on the back of the heads just hard enough to knock them out for a while. "Sorry." She mumbled to them as she stared at their unconscious forms sadly before turning to the other soldier.

"No, don't hurt me!" He begged as his eyes zeroed in on her giant hammer. He remained on the floor, clutching his chest as he panted slightly. It seemed he had a few broken ribs and wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"Don't worry, I won't." Amy promised, not quite being able to make out the soldiers face as her vision remained blurry and the world continued to spin slightly. "I didn't want to hurt those other soldiers, but don't worry, I'm going to go get help."

With that, she turned around and began staggering down the corridor. She just hoped that she could make it.

.

All was quiet outside the base with only a few guards strolling around. Even though the bodies had been removed, there were still blood stains on the ground forming puddles of red all over the place. This was the first thing Rouge noticed as her heels clicked on the ground as she gracefully landed. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight and she placed a hand over her mouth. So much blood had been spilled here. If she was being honest, all of this trouble could have been saved sooner if Tails would've just made up his mind. They should have carried out this plan the moment the idea came to them. Oh well, too late now. Better late than never.

She surveyed the area as she remained concealed behind a rock. The main entrance was open, obviously from where Dark Sonic had just flown from. The problem was, that would be the busiest area. Entering through an air vent wasn't an option with Knuckles' injury. She'd have to find another way in.

In the distance, she spotted a peculiar gathering of a few guards, so obviously something must be there. With a quick flap of her wings, Rouge soared into the sky again and glided towards the gathering. A smile formed on her face when she realised that they were guarding a hole that had been blown into the side of the base. That would have to do.

"My my," Rouge whispered lowly to herself, "Thanks for the help GUN."

"Rouge." A low voice asked through her communicator. "Have you found a way in?"

"Don't worry Shadow," She responded, "These lovely gentlemen have kindly showed the way."

"Well where is it?!" Another male voice hissed. "Tell us and stop messing about!"

Rouge chuckled. "Someone sounds jealous Knuckie. I do love a man in uniform."

Her smile widened as she heard Knuckles growl from the other end.

"Enough playing around Rouge and inform us of the location." Shadow ordered seriously.

Rouge rolled her eyes before responding, "It's on the east side of the base. There's a gathering of guards protecting it so you can't miss it."

Rouge suddenly jumped as she saw a black blur appear out of the corner of her eye that landed just below where she was hovering.

"The east," Shadow mumbled, "Perfect."

Without another word, he dashed forward, easily and effectively hitting them on the back of the head, knocking them out. Their unconscious bodies fell to the floor and Shadow watched them for a few seconds to make sure none of them came round before raising his wrist to speak into the communicator.

"The coast is clear." He said. "The Doctor said he disabled all the cameras so don't worry about them."

Both of them then watched as Tails flew up from below the cliff face, carrying Knuckles with him who had a disgruntled expression on his face.

"I feel so useless with this damn broken leg." He growled.

"I think it makes you look cutely vulnerable." Rouge purred which only made Knuckles angrier.

Tails sighed. "Just stay with me and pipe down. You are useful Knuckles. You're the one who's going to disable the master emerald's power and put a stop to all of this once and for all. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do anything."

Knuckles huffed, but remained silent after that. While what Tails said was true, he wanted to fight. He wanted to be able to defend his team as usual. He felt like such a failure for allowing Dark Sonic to overpower him like that and take the master emerald. Well at least he would get even with Dark Sonic now by taking his power away. Knuckles smirked at this new thought, before his face fell once he remembered what this would cost them. _But this was for the best_, he told himself. If he knew Amy, then this is what she would want. But they couldn't afford to think about the aftermath right now. There was no telling how long Eggman could keep Dark Sonic distracted. They had to get this done and get it done quickly.

Tails continued flying with Knuckles in his grip, flying them both over to the giant hole in the wall. Rouge followed and Shadow peered around inside as they approached. The hole led into a half destroyed corridor with walls blackened by the explosion and fire and lights destroyed, leaving most of the corridor dark.

"Knuckles, can you sense the master emerald?" Tails asked.

"Yes." Both Knuckles and Rouge answered at the same time which resulted in Knuckles turned to glare at her and Rouge winking at him in return.

"Hands off." Knuckles growled at her. "We're here to stop Dark Sonic, not go on a jewel heist."

Rouge gasped, pretending to be offended. "I'm offended that your mind would jump to such a conclusion with me."

"Enough bickering." Tails snapped as he flew inside with Knuckles.

"She started it." Knuckles huffed and Tails frowned down at him.

"Down there." Knuckles nodded his head in the general direction.

Tails flew in the direction with Shadow and Rouge following them. The corridor was long with doors on the side opening up into very large rooms, some were filled with machinery and robots, while others looked more like a workshop or a lab.

"There." Knuckles gestured towards a set of double doors to the right hand side. Tails once again obeyed with Shadow bursting the doors open for them. It led them to a set of large stairs that winded both up and down.

Knuckles gestured for them to head down and to keep going until he said so.

"Couldn't we just take the elevator?" Rouge moaned.

"Oh yeah, that's a sure good way to get caught." Knuckles snapped.

"He's got a point Rouge, at least here we can see people coming." Tails agreed.

They continued heading down until Knuckles yelled out, "Stop! It's on this floor."

Shadow looked around and spotted the sigh next to some double doors. "Level 3, this is it. Let's move."

They made their way through the doors and followed Knuckles' senses. However as they turned a corner, they froze and hid behind once again when they saw guards stationed outside a large set of double doors.

"I'm guessing the master emerald in in there then." Tails said, slightly started by the sight of the guards.

"No problem." Shadow smirked.

"Please, try not to hurt them too much." Tails begged. "They're innocent."

Shadow huffed in reply before he confidently walked out of hiding and towards the guards. The guards all gasped and raised their weapons, aiming them at him.

"Agent Shadow, stop right there!" One of them yelled.

"You fool," Another shouted in slight fear, "Sonic ordered us not to harm them."

"Is that so?" Shadow smirked before easily smacking the soldiers head and knocking him out onto the ground. He quickly did the same with the other soldiers who were powerless to stop him and then called for the others to come out.

Tails carried Knuckles out, followed by Rouge and they stood outside the door.

"Is it definitely in there?" Tails asked.

"Oh yeah." Both Knuckles and Rouge said at the same time.

Tails sighed, his face turning bleak. "Then let's get this over and done with."

Shadow kicked the doors open easily and there, in the middle of a warehouse style room, was the master emerald. It glowing brightly in the centre of the dull looking room that was mainly empty. The tiny slit windows at the top had been smashed in by the shockwaves of the bombing and Tails wasted no time in flying Knuckles up to the giant green master emerald.

"Ok, Knuckles," Tails' voice cracked slightly with repressed emotion, "We're counting on you."

Knuckles nodded, his expression turned grave and he rose his hands slightly before closing his eyes. The master emerald began glowing brightly as he began chanting.

"The severs are the seven chaos – "

"Tails? Knuckles?" A familiar high pitched voice gasped from behind them all.

Everyone in the room turned around in horror, their worst fears coming true as a slightly delirious looking Amy stared at them in confusion from the doorway before her expression too turned to one of horror and terror.

"NO!" Tails screamed as he realised what this meant.

Amy also screamed and fell to the floor, holding her head between her hands, her eyes wide and wild.

"HE'S SEEN US!" Tails confirmed everyone's thoughts just as his wrist communicator went off.

That could only one person. He must have realised as well. Tails quickly answered the call.

"Tails, what happened back there?!" Eggman demanded in a panic. "Dark Sonic seems to have realised our plan."

"Amy walked in on us." Tails cried back.

"YOU IDIOT!" Rouge began screaming at Amy who was too busy crying and screaming on the floor to pay attention. "YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!"

"He's coming back for you all! You've got to get out of there now!" Eggman yelled. "I have no choice!"

"What?!" Tails shrieked into his communicator, his heart pounding in the most intense fear he had ever felt in his life. There was a sudden screeching noise on the other end of the communicator, then there was incoherent yelling promptly followed by what sounded like an explosion before the signal cut out.

"Eggman!" Tails yelled. "Eggman do you read me? Eggman?!" Tails eyes went wide as he froze with his mouth agape in shock and horror.

"Finish the incantation!" Shadow ordered Knuckles. "We can still stop this!"

"The servers are the seven chaos – " Knuckles began again before he was interrupted.

The sudden sight of the master emerald shattering into smaller pieces before his very eyes forced him to stop in his tracks. The green pieces glistened as they all floated away out of the windows into some unknown location. As the chaos cleared, Dark Sonic revealed himself from the pieces of the master emerald and grinned down at everyone.

_No, _Tails thought in horror. _That was their only chance. He's won. _

Dark Sonic's eyes then locked with Tails' before he bared his teeth at him in a sadistic smile, proud that he had ruined their plan and was now enjoying the looks of defeat on their faces.

Dark Sonic began manically laughing at out loud at the joy of it. "Think again."

* * *

**Feel free to leave your opinions.**

**So, we're starting to come towards the end now guys and I feel the need to answer a huge question I've been getting off a lot of people. What are you doing next? A lot of you have asked. Well, for now, I'll be continuing with Sonamy one-shot requests and also have two collaboration stories coming up with aliixo and Jowy Avilon. In the meantime, you should definitely check out their solo work if you like to be emotionally traumatized with Sonamy feels: Rise of SonicEXE by aliixo and Final Fate by Jowy Avilon. **


	29. Hopeless Situation

**Hello again everyone! After many many many distractions and procrastination, this chapter is finally done. But it looks like I'll have this story finished this week for sure. I can hear you screaming from here aliixo, I told you to look on the bright side of it. Anyway, thank you so much for all of the reviews, they're always a pleasure to read. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**29: Hopeless Situation **

Tails' eyes did not leave Dark Sonic as he continued to float above them. The shards of the master emerald had all now pretty much vanished along with all their hope. The room had become still and eerie with the only movement coming from the graceful dark mist that swirled around Dark Sonic as he smiled down at them, silently rejoicing.

"Thank you Amy," Dark Sonic finally said happily, breaking the silence, "Looks like your escape attempt was useful after all."

Rouge glared down at the pink hedgehog who had curled into a tight ball and pressed herself against the wall as if she wished to disappear. Amy whimpered slightly at Dark Sonic's words and her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her sobs. She couldn't help but feel that she had once again messed everything up. In fact, there was no denying it. She had literally just destroyed the one piece of hope they had of getting Sonic back. She didn't deserve to live and Rouge's angry glares weren't enough. How much more stupid could she possibly get?

"Rouge," Shadow hissed at Rouge and glared menacingly at her.

"What?!" She snapped back. "It is the pink brat's fault after all."

"That's enough." Shadow demanded, still sounding a lot calmer than Rouge, but also sounding more threatening at the same time.

"What did you just call her?" Dark Sonic suddenly turned on Rouge.

The white bat angled her body away slightly, but otherwise showed no traces of fear on her features as she refused to let Dark Sonic intimidate her.

"Oh, you are pathetic you know that Sonic?" Rouge said, folding her arms.

Dark Sonic chuckled. "If I were you I'd run while you still have the chance."

"What?" Tails gasped. _I thought he wanted to capture us, _he mused to himself, _so why does he want us to get out of here? _

"I'm going to count to three." Dark Sonic said playfully, ignoring everyone's confusion. "One."

Tails jumped slightly as he felt someone tightly grab hold of his arm. He looked up to meet Shadow's serious and hard red eyes as he glared down at the young fox. His grip tightened and he began pulling Tails away and towards the door.

"Come on, let's go." Shadow's tone left no room for arguing.

Tails then looked up to see everyone else fleeing the room as Rouge picked up Knuckles – much to his annoyed protesting – and had begun carrying him out. However, Tails also spotted that Amy hadn't moved and was still curled up against the metal wall.

"But, Amy – " Tails tried to break free and get to her, but Shadow persisted.

"She's lost to us. Let's go while we have the chance."

"Two." Dark Sonic continued to count.

Once Shadow had yanked Tails around the corner, he began running faster, his hand still clasped around Tails' arm, making sure that he followed them. He didn't care if he was hurting Tails, he needed to get everyone out and prevent Tails from doing something stupid. They had lost, that much was certain. However, he was not prepared to give into Dark Sonic and join him just like that. He knew the others would agree.

However this free ticket to escape didn't seem right to Tails. Something felt very very wrong. Why would Dark Sonic just let them wander out the building? He always thought that Dark Sonic had wanted them to join him. So why let them leave so easily? Couldn't Shadow see this too?

"Hey, Shadow?" Tails asked, voicing his thoughts. "Doesn't this seem strange to you."

"It does." Shadow replied as his eyes narrowed. "But I'll be able to take on whatever Dark Sonic throws at us as we escape. There's no way he's getting his hands on any of us. Especially me, the ultimate lifeform."

They all followed the same path they had taken to get here and soon the hole in the wall was in sight. The sky had turned dark since they had arrived and rain was beginning to pour down. They could hear the large raindrops slamming against the metal and it echoed around them like tiny gunshots. Finally, they made a break for it, but were soon stopped in their tracks by what was waiting for them outside. The darkness outside wasn't just coming from the rainclouds, but also a thick cloud of smoke that choked the air around them. A gust of wind blew the smoke into one direction, revealing the burnt up scraps of metal which they recognised as being pieces of Eggman's mech. The heavy rain drenched the ground around them, creating small streams in the dents in the ground. In some of those streams, the water ran red…blood red.

The blood was flowing in small streams all around them, being carried by the rainwater towards them and Shadow and Tails took automatic steps away from it. They looked up as the smoke was further blown away and lying under a heavy looking piece of metal was Doctor Eggman. His body appeared to be sprawled out in an unnatural position with the heavy metal directly on top of his head. That was where the blood was flowing from. It collected in the rainwater, creating a lake of blood that then flowed out in streams towards them.

Tails, Knuckles and Rouge gasped while Shadow's eyes narrowed before he motioned for them all to stay back. Their eyes were glued to Eggman's body as if expecting that any moment he would jump up and that this would be another one of his schemes. No jumping occurred and no villainous laugh followed. They craned their necks, looking for any possible signs of movement, but he didn't even appear to be breathing.

Tails' heart sank deep into his chest. Doctor Eggman was dead.

"This is what happens to those who cross me." Dark Sonic's voice suddenly announced in a growl.

Everyone gasped and looked up to see Dark Sonic gently float to the ground as his dark, menacing presence blended in with the dark smoke around him. Only his glowing white eyes were clearly visible as he turned to glare at the body of Doctor Eggman.

"Pathetic isn't he?" Dark Sonic sighed, sounding bored. "Even in death."

"You did this?" Tails managed to gasp out in a broken voice. He felt sick as Eggman's dying moment he'd heard on his communicator played again over and over in his mind.

Dark Sonic laughed. "I wish. The old moron sacrificed himself to buy you guys some more time. Well, that was successful."

"You let us leave here so we would see him!" Shadow growled out.

"You're sick!" Knuckles yelled in disgust.

"I just thought you should know that our arch nemesis is dead." Dark Sonic smiled as he floated towards them slightly. "Now you have nothing to fear. I'm in charge of things now and this world will now become a better place."

"Not with someone like you in charge." Rouge spat.

"Well if you won't come willingly," Dark Sonic chuckled, "Then you'll just have to come with me by force."

Dark Sonic snapped his fingers and all of a sudden small bombs landed next to them from above. Before they even had time to react to what was going on, they made a quiet popping sound before gas began leaking out of them instantly making them feel drowsy. Dark Sonic approached them and looked down at their collapsing forms.

Tails managed to fight off the sleepiness just enough to glare weakly up at Dark Sonic who smirked down at him in victory. "Y-You'll…never get…a-away with…this." He panted as he could no longer keep his eyes open.

"I already have." He heard Dark Sonic laugh before everything went black.

.

"The gas should've warn off by now." A distant voice announced.

Shadow groaned as his head pounded slightly and he heard what sounded like footsteps coming towards him. A hand then firmly grasped his quills and yanked his head up violently.

"WAKEY WAKEY!" Dark Sonic yelled down his ear.

Shadow's eyes snapped open and he grabbed hold of Dark Sonic's arm, trying to remove his hold on his quills. Dark Sonic's grip was like titanium as Shadow was unable to fight him off. Dark Sonic laughed at his feeble attempts which only served to annoy Shadow even more. If Dark Sonic had not been empowered by the negative chaos energy then he would easily be able to take the blue faker down. Unfortunately, as much as Shadow hated to admit it, he was at a huge disadvantage. His eyes scanned the room that he now seemed to find himself in. The room was dark with only one small source of light in the centre of the room. The lamp hung loosely off the ceiling, creating a spotlight in the centre. Dark Sonic let go of his quills, pushing his head forward in the process.

"What is this place?" Shadow demanded as his head cleared. He stood up straight and glared at Dark Sonic's white eyes.

"Doesn't it seem familiar?" Dark Sonic asked in playful surprise. "The old base was practically destroyed by the bombs so I decided I liked this one better. Eggman's latest base."

Shadow frowned. So he had taken them back to the place where all this had started. How peculiar. Was he mocking them?

"But never mind that. I have a little present for you Shadow." Dark Sonic smirked in delight.

Shadow didn't react as he continued to glare at Dark Sonic who circled him before standing a few feet in front of him, just within the reach of the glow of the lamp. Dark Sonic waited for Shadow to reply, but the black hedgehog refused to take the bait. He just folded his arms and remained indifferent as he watched Dark Sonic who seemed to be growing impatient.

"Don't you want to know what it is?" Dark Sonic prodded again.

Again, Shadow said nothing. Dark Sonic eventually sighed and clicked his fingers. Shadow's ears twitched as he heard shuffling in the darkness in front of him and two former GUN soldiers appeared each dragging the Commander by the arms before they threw him into the centre of the room. The Commander lost his balance slightly for a second before he righted himself. He stood up straight with his head held high and his hands clasped behind his back. His expression remained neutral with a hint of determination as he refused to acknowledge Dark Sonic's presence.

Dark Sonic gazed up at him before his white eyes narrowed and he turned towards Shadow.

"Well Shadow, do you like it?"

"Just what exactly are you playing at?" Shadow demanded seriously.

Dark Sonic stepped around the back of the Commander to stand at the other side of him. The Commander remained unflinching as he did such an action and Shadow too remained still as the soldiers stepped back into the darkness. Dark Sonic turned back to one of them, took something from their hand before he floated over to Shadow, grabbed hold of his wrist and placed the item in his hand.

Shadow looked down at his hand that now loosely clasped the black 9mm pistol while Dark Sonic watched him carefully. Shadow then raised his arm up slightly, staring at the gun and twisting it slightly to stare at it from the side, his red eyes scanning the weapon. Now he understood.

"This here is the man who has caused you so much trouble." Dark Sonic said, sounding entertained. "And he is my gift to you. Kill him. It's what you've wanted."

Once again the Commander didn't flinch and Shadow finally raised his red eyes to stare at the commanding officer in front of him. The gun in Shadow's hand didn't move as his grip slowly tightened. Dark Sonic chuckled at the sight.

"That's it Shadow." He goaded. "This is the man responsible for informing the military of your existence. The reason you were sealed away for fifty years. This is the man who chased after you for revenge over something _he _caused. Now's your chance to wipe this filth from existence."

Dark Sonic was right. This man had caused way too many problems in his life from the very moment he was created. But no. Shadow growled and slammed the gun to the ground, refusing to become a part of Dark Sonic's ridiculous games.

"What?" Dark Sonic snapped as he picked up the gun and tried to hand it back to Shadow again. Shadow refused.

"This man has wreaked havoc in your life, you know that right?"

"Yes, I do." Shadow snarled at him. "But I'm past that. I've changed, I'm not like you. I'm not going to kill for fun or revenge. Now stop wasting my time."

Dark Sonic's eyes narrowed at him as he twirled the gun in his hand. "Fine, if that's how you want to be. I tried to be nice." He abruptly whipped around and the sudden sound of a gunshot echoed loudly around the room. Everyone remained still apart from the Commander who limply fell to his knees, a gunshot wound becoming more and more visible between his eyes as blood began to ooze out of it. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell forward, his head made a sickening crack as it fell against the metal. Blood began to pool around his head and Shadow's eyes widened slightly before he growled at Dark Sonic.

"You didn't have to do that!" Shadow yelled. "You're sick, you know that? Sick!"

"He's caused too much trouble within GUN." Dark Sonic explained calmly. "He didn't deserve to live."

"And who are you to make that call?" Shadow demanded. "You're nothing but a monster now Sonic. Do you truly enjoy what you have become? Is this merely a game to you? You always were too much of a thrill seeking idiot for your own good."

"What did you say?!" Dark Sonic growled out, suddenly turning on his as he clasped a hand around Shadow's throat in a death grip. Shadow just continued to glare at him. There seemed to be a look of panic in Dark Sonic's eyes as he twisted around and began slamming Shadow's head against the metal wall of the cell.

"Is this what it felt like, huh? When you crash landed on the planet. Let's see how hits it takes to give you amnesia again. Poor Maria will be nothing to you once again." Dark Sonic chuckled.

Shadow let out a gasp as his head was slammed against the wall one final time before he lost consciousness. There was a huge dent in the wall that almost broke through to the other side and Dark Sonic finally let Shadow's limp body fall to the floor before he turned to glare at the two worried looking soldiers in the corner.

"What are you two gawping at?!"

.

Amy sat slumped against the wall of her new cell. Now that the master emerald had been shattered, there was no hope. They could have just found the pieces again, but now that they were all captured, there was no chance of that happening. It broke her heart to hear Tails crying in the cell next to hers for hours straight. His sobs had now died down though and she wished she could walk through the wall and hug him tightly. But he probably wouldn't want her anywhere near him. After all, she was responsible for the loss of his best friend.

Sonic was lost to them. Now and forever. There was no other way. Not like Eggman had shouted to her during his battle with Dark Sonic.

_Almost there. Almost there. Just one more burst of speed and Dark Sonic would have Eggman in his clutches. This was it. That pathetic scientist would no longer exist and everyone would be safe. However, Dark Sonic suddenly froze in mid-air as something in his mind caught his attention. Or more appropriately, Amy's mind. _

"_Tails? Knuckles?" Amy's voice filled his mind as she spotted them gathered around the master emerald. _

_NO! Dark Sonic froze in mid-air, his thoughts going wild as his friends were close to cutting off his power. _

"_NO!" Tails echoed the horror that he was experiencing. _

"_That's right Tails, I've seen you." Dark Sonic growled out. He noticed that Eggman had stopped and turned around. It looked like the good Doctor would have to wait. He had much more pressing issues to deal with. _

"_NO!" Eggman yelled. _

"_Sorry Egghead, but I don't feel like becoming neutral again." Dark Sonic snapped before turning away and flying back towards the base. _

"_Neutral?" He heard Eggman muse before he shouted, "THAT'S IT! AMY I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! YOU HAVE TO USE THE MACHINE! REMEMBER THE MACHINE!" _

Amy didn't want to remember any further. The image of Eggman's crashing and burning body as he flew into the back of Dark Sonic and pulled him to the ground with him in an effort to buy them time. Yet his sacrifice was for nothing. But according to Eggman, there was hope. A hope to get Sonic back to normal. But what was it?

Just what exactly did Eggman mean by remember the machine?

* * *

**That took way longer than necessary *glares accusingly at aliixo*. Anyway feel free to leave your opinions. **


	30. The Last Stand

**Hey everyone, another fast update like I promised. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews. Second to last chapter now, yikes. I hope you enjoy.**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**30: The Last Stand**

Amy didn't even flinch as the door to her cell creaked open. The dark mist seeped into the room before he had even set foot in it. She didn't even look up. She didn't even care. As far as she knew now, she was going to be trapped here forever. Eternally connected to his sick, twisted mind and thoughts. All because she couldn't figure out what Eggman's words meant. Amy pulled her legs tighter against her chest as his final words echoed in her head. What machine? They'd never discussed anything about a machine. She thought there was no way for Dark Sonic to change back unless of course they ceased the power of the chaos emeralds…but everyone knew how well that plan went. All thanks to her.

But no. She had to fight on. After everything she had done, she had to figure a way through this. Eggman had trusted her with his last words. He used his dying moment to reveal a key piece of information for her and as much as she hated Doctor Eggman, she didn't want him to die in vain. Because after all, he had been trying to help and had sacrificed himself in the hopes of slowing Dark Sonic down, buying the others some time. But still…even if she did come up with a plan, Dark Sonic would just hear her thoughts and stop her. Even if there was a solution, there was no way Amy would be able to carry it out. But Eggman was a clever man…he wouldn't have told her if he didn't have any confidence that she could pull it off. This was all so confusing.

"Why so glum, Amy?" Dark Sonic asked, sounding slightly giddy. Amy hadn't even noticed that he'd approached as her thoughts were focused on events.

"Like you couldn't just search my mind and know." Amy huffed as she refused to make eye contact with him.

Dark Sonic just chuckled. "You should be happy that Eggman is dead." He said. "The man who has caused you so much pain is now gone."

Amy didn't respond as she focused on trying to remember anything about a machine. Her eyes then darted up to watch Dark Sonic's reaction carefully to see if he had an inkling. She scanned for anything; a look of panic, uncertainty. Anything to give her a clue that she was on the right track, but nothing. Dark Sonic just appeared to remain oblivious…as if he could no longer hear her thoughts. She could certainly no longer hear his. That's what usually happened just before he came in to transfer some more of his energy to her. So did that mean…it worked both ways? Hope began to rise in Amy's chest and her heartrate increased. Was she onto something here? Something that would give her a chance against him?

The back of her head was beginning to start hurting so she knew she didn't have long to try and come up with something. Dark Sonic continued to have no reaction. Normally when she thought of something, he'd taunt her and say at least something. But now that she thought about it, this had happened before. Just before he'd transfer energy, she would think of a plan and he'd have no reaction. That's what had happened when she first wondered if she had limited access to his power. He had been none the wiser until the energy had settled inside her. It all made sense. This was her window of opportunity to do something. Eggman must have realised this. From the whispers she'd heard from within the base when they moved to this one, it seemed Eggman had been hiding underneath the old one the whole time. Knowing him, he had been watching them. Now all she had to do was figure out what machine he had been referring to.

"It's over Amy," Dark Sonic announced, "The Commander, the Lieutenant and Eggman are all dead. GUN and the world have fallen at my feet and now a new world order can commence under my guidance."

Amy snorted. "I don't even know how you're gunna guide anything; you're becoming more and more deranged every day."

"NO I'M NOT!" Dark Sonic abruptly yelled in an almost normal sounding voice.

Amy stared at him in sudden surprise. Dark Sonic just glared back at her, his body completely still and his hands balled into fists. He'd pressed his lips together in a tight line and Amy sighed in defeat. Maybe, she'd just heard what she wanted to hear. Dark Sonic was completely taken over with negative energy and his normal form wouldn't come back until they did something about that. But how would she get that energy out? That was the question.

Amy watched Dark Sonic and Dark Sonic watched Amy. It was if they were having a silent stand-off. Something was going on inside that head of his right now. If only she knew. He said nothing, just stared at her. Everything was starting to get slightly weird. Amy felt like there was something right in front of her that she just couldn't quite put her finger on.

_The machine. _The only machine she could think of was the one Eggman had used to transform Dark Sonic in the first place. But what good would that be? The chaos emeralds were probably still inside it, lifeless and dull from Sonic having drained all of their negative energy. There was no way that could be any use. Before yelling that, the word _neutralising _seemed to inspire this idea with Eggman. Yes, when Sonic would go back to normal, he would be neutralised as all the negative energy would be gone from him. The dark energy would leave him and thus leave her.

The thought hit her there and then. There was no way she'd live through this. But Amy didn't rest on that thought too long. Her life didn't matter. She'd gladly sacrifice herself a million times if it meant saving Sonic. She'd do so without giving a second thought every time. Her life was a small price to pay.

Amy then thought back to the issue at hand. How do you turn negative neutral again? Amy continued to think as Dark Sonic began pacing the room, not saying a word. She could always try shooting him with positive energy. Wait…that was it! The chaos emeralds weren't unless! Eggman had only shot Sonic with the negative energy, so now all she had to do was use the same machine and shoot the positive energy at him, thus neutralising him! Then he'd gain his consciousness back and he'd know what he was doing again. That's what Eggman had meant! However, her hopes faltered again once she realised the issue of actually achieving this plan. Dark Sonic wasn't exactly going to willingly follow her in there and let her shoot him. He said so himself he wasn't giving it up. It was like his body was addicted to it. But there had to be a way around it. There just had to be. Now that she knew there was a way, she wasn't going to give up.

Unless…it was risky, but she might have a chance. If she let him transfer more of his energy to her, then she'd be able to break out of the cell and lead him towards the machine. But then he'd know her plan. That was the only problem. He'd try and fight her off. She guessed she'd just have to use that to her advantage.

"So you really think the whole world is going to follow you?" Amy sneered as she straightened her legs out in front of her.

Dark Sonic stopped pacing and chuckled. "Of course. They'll have no choice."

Amy smirked. "Except I can't help but notice the irony there."

"Oh?"

"You say you're doing this to give people the freedom they deserve, only you're giving them no choice in the situation. Is that truly freedom?" Amy inquired.

"You act as if I don't have popular support on this. Look at all the anthros and GUN soldiers who joined me." Dark Sonic said arrogantly.

Amy glared at him. "Because they _clearly_ worship the ground you walk on. I see the fear in their eyes when they're around you. They stay with you and tell you what you want to hear out of fear."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. You've just become the new biggest bully in the playground." Amy snapped as she quickly stood up and narrowed her eyes at him. The pain the back of her head was beginning to get worse and now it would only be a matter of time. She just had to act natural until then and try and keep her mind clear when he kissed her. "Only I'm not going to do that. I'm going to tell you straight."

Dark Sonic just sighed. "You've been doing nothing but telling me straight since you got here."

"Got here?!" Amy shrieked. "You kidnapped me!"

"Need I remind you, that you were the one who ran away from the others in the first place?!" Dark Sonic yelled, appearing right in front of her before leaning over her. "I wasn't about to let you die on your own out there!"

"Oh, so he _has_ got a heart!" Amy taunted.

Dark Sonic took a step back, his head lowered slightly and his glare turned more menacing. "You know I have a heart. I'm not evil."

"Oh yeah because ripping someone's head off is the ultimate act of pure kindness."

"I did what I had to do."

"No you didn't." Amy scoffed. "In this form you're nothing but a savage. You're not the hedgehog I fell in love with."

Dark Sonic visibly flinched at her words and took another step back. The mist around him seemed to grow thicker and pulsated slightly as his eyes glowed brighter. Amy squashed down her fear and tried to remain confident in front of him. Any sign of fear would be a sign of weakness. However, judging by Dark Sonic's reaction, she knew she had crossed some sort of line.

"But I am though aren't I?" Dark Sonic growled. "I am Sonic. You're the one who schemed with Eggman on project darkness, you should know that I'm the real deal. One way or another, you and the others will soon come to accept this."

He appeared in front of her again and quickly kissed her. Amy's first instinct was to fight him off, but she resisted and forced herself to relax in his embrace. His arms snaked around her, pinning her to his body and she could soon feel the power flowing into her. Her head stopped hurting, but the world around her began to spin and she knew it was now or never. The negative energy began following her will and flowed into the rest of her body. This was the most she could handle before she would turn insane again.

Abruptly, using all of her strength, Amy managed to force her arms out of Dark Sonic's constricting grasp and pushed him away from her. For once, Dark Sonic was effected by her strength and his body flew backwards, smashing into the metal wall behind him. The force created a huge dent and the metal creaked and groaned under the sudden unexpected pressure. Amy once again felt like something had slammed into the back of her head, only this time another pain made itself known. A pain in her back. Sonic's pain. She could feel everything he felt once again. Sensing his surprise and confusion, Amy bolted towards the cell door, not stopping as she charged into it, easily knocking it off its hinges and breaking it down.

She fell to the floor along with the door in the process, the pounding in her head gradually getting worse. Placing the palm of her hands on the door to push herself up, Amy gasped when she realised the slight dark mist that was radiating off her body. She sat up and looked down at her body, her pink fur now a darker shade.

There was no time to think about this though. The world seemed to be turning sideways as the negative energy was diverted away from her now reappearing injury. A ringing began blaring in her ears, drowning out a lot of the sound around her. There wasn't much time.

Despite the dizziness, Amy forced herself to stand up. She wobbled slightly but made herself remain focused. The urge to just give in and pass out was unbearable, but she had to do this. She had to press on. However she had barely even taken one step forward when arms wrapped around her waist, before one slid up and covered her mouth.

"I told you not to pull stunts like that." Dark Sonic hissed into her ear before gently kissing it. Amy squirmed in his grasp. The fact that Dark Sonic appeared to be struggling to keep a hold of her gave her some hope.

He tried with all his might to drag her to another cell, but Amy fought back with everything she had. His grip didn't appear to be loosening much so Amy did the next thing she could think of in her dizzy, out of control state. She sank her teeth into his hand and pierced through the blood stained glove and the skin of his hand and Dark Sonic yelled out in agony. As a reflex, he let go of her and Amy swung her leg back and kicked him in the gut for an added measure and he fell to the floor. She didn't want to hurt him, but what choice did she have? She needed to get him to chase her, not capture her.

Without so much as a glance back, she bolted. Within seconds though, her head and the front of her body hit something hard and it took her a few moments to realise that it was the floor. Dark Sonic's hand clung onto her leg and Amy screamed in frustration and she tried to crawl away. Dark Sonic was faster though and he quickly crawled on top of her. He grabbed hold of her wrists and pressed them hard against the floor and used his ankles to pin her legs down.

"Amy, stop this!" Dark Sonic yelled.

"NO!" Amy screamed. By now she knew he knew her plan. But she wasn't about to give up. She had to save him, she just had to.

Using her flexibility, she arched her back before kicking her feet off the ground. Dark Sonic didn't have much time to react as she back flipped over, slamming Dark Sonic's body down underneath hers before she quickly got off him and ran down the corridor. In this condition, she may be faster, but her blurred and distorted vision countered that and Amy found herself more stumbling down the corridor than actually running.

It began to feel like someone had poured acid into her brain and every time she blinked, the period when her eyes were closed grew longer and longer. Fighting off her body's desires to lose consciousness was becoming almost impossible. Dark Sonic's growl from behind her spurred her on though as she shook her head in order to get herself to snap out of it. She continued running to where she remembered the room being and luckily it wasn't too far.

The huge double door – or four doors according to her swirling vision – came into sight and Amy smiled with relief. It was short lived though as Dark Sonic, out of nowhere, tackled her to the ground. Amy let out another cry of frustration as she attempted to roll them both over.

"Amy are you stupid!" Dark Sonic yelled. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I don't care!" Amy screamed back. "I just want you back to normal!"

Dark Sonic refused to let her beat him though. She may have some of his negative energy, but he had most of it, therefore he was the strongest and most powerful. He easily pinned her down again and bared his teeth at her.

"I won't lose you again!" He shrieked in an almost panicked state. His white eyes were wild as if he was fighting an internal battle as well as an external one. It was hard to see where Dark Sonic's mist ended and Amy's began as they were positioned so close together.

Amy paid no attention to his protest though. Sonic would just have to go on in life without her, there was nothing she could do about that. She wouldn't allow him to live in this state a moment longer. Normal Sonic would hate for that to happen. Dark Sonic may actually technically be the real Sonic; his primal instincts and subconscious desires. But ultimately the normal Sonic was the real deal. Dark Sonic had no control, but Sonic chose what he acted on and what he didn't, demonstrating his true morality and goodness. That was the real him and the one she fell in love with. And the real Sonic would not agree with what his Dark form had done because he was a kind hearted person. The negative energy exaggerated his bad traits that he fought not to act on. Amy had to save him. She owed him that much after getting him into this mess in the first place for her own selfish desires. She was going to give her life for him. It wasn't much, but if it saved him from himself, then that's what she'd do.

With these thoughts in mind, she cringed as she yanked her arm free and punched him in the face. Blood splattered out from his nose, but was quickly healed by the dark energy. Using that distraction, Amy was able to push him off her and charged through the door to the room. She used her energy to make the huge jump onto the platform where the huge familiar weapon still sat, unused since that fateful day over a month ago.

Amy grabbed onto it as her legs began buckling beneath her. Her skin and fur were beginning to turn light again as she could no longer fight to keep the energy away from her injury. She screamed in pain as it felt like her head was splitting open from the inside, but she forced herself to ignore it. Peering at the weapon, she sighed with relief when she saw that the chaos emeralds were still inside. They still retained their colour which meant that energy was still inside. Positive energy. The very energy she needed to save him.

Despite the protesting and failing of her brain, she tried to think back to the diagram she had seen when she broke into Eggman's office. There were only a few buttons on the panel and the larger red one looked the most promising.

Dark Sonic stormed into the room glaring at her before simply standing in the middle of the room. Amy stared at him momentarily in confusion before realising that she couldn't afford to waste this opportunity.

"I'm so sorry Sonic." Amy managed to gasp out as she shakily held her hand over the button. "I love you." Were her last words before she slammed her hand down on the button.

The weapon powered up and fired immediately and Dark Sonic screamed as the energy hit him. Amy yelled out in pain as well as it felt like Eggman had hit her over the head all over again. Through her blurred vision, she could just about make out Sonic's fur turning gold for a few seconds before appearing to change back to its normal shade of blue.

"AMY!" Sonic's cries seemed so far away as she finally collapsed on the floor.

She had done it. She had saved him and now her debt has been re-paid. Her eyes drifted peacefully closed with that thought as she began to feel like she was floating on a never ending stretch of water. It was a beautiful feeling and the pain was gradually beginning to leave her. So this is what dying felt like? It was rather nice. Like climbing into a warm bed after a rough day, only this was much better. It felt right. Natural. Sonic's cries grew quieter and quitter as a bright gold light appeared in front of her before everything went black.

* * *

**Phew. I got so into writing this chapter I made myself dizzy. So it's the last chapter next guys. I can't believe it either. I shall hopefully have it out tomorrow. In the meantime, feel free to leave your opinions.**


	31. Light In The Darkness

**Well, this is it. The final chapter. I had hoped to get this up earlier today, but I lost my notes on it, but luckily I found them in time. Phew. Thanks for all the awesome reviews and I hope you enjoy the final instalment. **

**I own nothing.**

* * *

**31: Light In The Darkness**

"The Commander will see you now." One of the GUN soldiers guarding the door announced to Tails who stood outside the office waiting.

The young fox nodded to the guards as they allowed him into the office inside the new GUN headquarters. He strolled in, looking slightly unsure as he approached the desk of the new GUN Commander who was stood by the wall length window, overlooking the city of Station Square. Tails cleared his throat to announce his presence although he knew there was no doubt that Shadow knew he was there.

"I need a status report." Shadow said, cutting right to the chase as his face turned away from the window to watch the fox. "The doctors here have been trying everything, but Sonic remains pretty closed up about everything. You're one of the closest people to him and it's important that we assess his condition so we can trust him outside of surveillance."

Tails sighed. "You're all being overly cautious. He's not going to go dark again unless he's near chaos energy."

"Be that as it may," Shadow huffed, "We just need to be sure. Who knows what stupid things Faker will do given events that have happened."

Tails remained silent for a few seconds before deciding to share information about his best friend. "He appears to be somewhat improving. Although he still won't go into too much detail, even to me. I try my best to talk to him and it's clear he's been deeply scarred by what has happened."

"Yet we have revealed little information to him about what he has done." Shadow noted. "Is it possible that the normal Sonic was conscious through the whole ordeal?"

"I'd say so." Tails fought back tears at that horrific thought. "He's definitely not the same. When I'm in the office with him, he twitches and paces, but this is different. He pulls on his quills and every now and then he'll become completely still and looks as though he is somewhere far away. I'm sure he'll talk when he's ready though, until now, I recommend we don't pressure him."

Shadow turned to stare back out the window with a deep frown appearing on his face. "There's uproar in the cities you know. News has got out that we have kept Sonic alive and that I have taken over as Commander. This whole mess isn't over by a long shot."

"I heard and I've made sure that Sonic has stayed away from populated areas." Tails replied solemnly. "He doesn't like being restricted, but it's almost like he doesn't care anymore. When I told him this, he didn't even say anything; just sat there."

"Where does he wander off to anyway?" Shadow asked.

"His usual favourite places, but I've noticed that he visit's Eggman's grave a lot."

"Interesting." Shadow mumbled in reply before speaking up. "You may leave now, thank you for your assistance."

Tails angled his body to leave before he gazed at the completely still black hedgehog again.

"By the way," Tails added, "How exactly have you been dealing with things?"

Shadow turned to face him again before walking over and placing his hand on his desk. "Eggman's bases have been raided for any potential dangerous weaponry and his machines have been shut down to prevent anything from going into meltdown. Many of his weapons will be kept in storage here and any other of his assets will be sold off for the benefit of the public. Orbot and Cubot will now be working for GUN."

"Orbot and Cubot took Eggman's death hard."

"They're robots, they'll get over it" Shadow rolled his eyes before adding, "Sonic and Amy will remain here under observation until we are absolutely sure they have both recovered from the impact the negative energy had on them."

"I see," Tails nodded.

"While that is happening, you are free to visit them any time you wish and your assistance with their recovery will be most appreciated. I sent Rouge to help Knuckles find the shards of the master emerald."

Tails smirked and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Knuckles will appreciate that."

Shadow ignored his comment and sat down at his desk. "In any case, I have a lot of things to sort out." He hinted that he now wanted the fox out of his presence.

"One more thing though, _Commander._" Tails spoke the title in confusion. "What made you take this position and create a reformed GUN?"

Shadow's red eyes darted up to meet Tails' blue ones before he stared back down at his computer. "I made a promise to protect the people of this planet. This seems the best way I can do so…interesting." He suddenly noted in frustration at the end.

"What is it?" Tails asked curiously.

"The doctors are still unable to find any conclusive evidence as to how Sonic and Amy survived being linked together in such a way."

Tails couldn't help but smile as he remembered his conversation with Knuckles all those weeks ago and how utterly ridiculous his theory was.

"I can offer you a theory as to why Amy survived from what I have discussed with her in regards to the negative energy being removed from Dark Sonic." Tails offered.

Shadow looked back up at him in interest.

"The positive energy of the chaos emeralds." Tails began to explain. "Chaos emeralds are fascinating and mysterious objects that sometimes seem to have a consciousness of their own. However they do act on the feelings of whoever is in control of them. The negative energy acted on and brought out Sonic's deepest desires and his worst traits. The positive brought out his best. The positive energy shot at Dark Sonic must've acted on Sonic's purest desire: to save Amy. In that moment it acted on Sonic's desperate love and affection and healed her permanently. Like I said, chaos emeralds are incredible gems."

Shadow's expression remained as hard as always before Tails continued.

"What is fascinating though is what Amy explained to me happened before she fired the energy at him. Apparently Dark Sonic just stood there, almost as if he wanted her to do it. As far-fetched as this theory seems…maybe Sonic knew that Amy would survive being so in tune to the chaos energy as he is. "

Shadow seemed genuinely surprised by this observation. "So, could the normal Sonic have been trying to fight back all this time? That would certainly explain when he attacked me…he almost seemed…scared of what he was doing."

Tails sighed. "Of course until Sonic opens up about what happened, we can't be fully sure. This is just a theory."

Shadow remained silent before getting back to his main point. "So you have no theories on how Sonic and Amy survived the link?"

Tails smirked. "No, none at all. Good day Shadow." He said before walking out of the room without another word.

He knew it was crazy. He knew that it was impossible, but it was the only _logical _explanation. To survive such a connection like that…a connection that would kill anyone else…maybe it was simply because Sonic and Amy were soul mates.

Tails continued walking down the corridor, ignoring the stares of everyone around him as he laughed out loud at his own theory.

.

_Sonic threw his head back slightly as he ran through the never ending open field. It was so blissful. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He threw his arms out at the side of him and let out a fun filled yell. It echoed in the vast open wilderness. This was paradise. _

_He looked ahead of him again and began skidding to a stop when he saw a familiar figure standing in the middle of the open field. A pink hedgehog in the distance. He could just about make out the smile on her face as she stared back at him. Amy. The unbearable urge to have her in his arms overwhelmed him and he began running towards her. Only she didn't seem to be getting closer. She was moving further and further away. _

_No! _

_The scenery grew darker and darker as thick clouds blocked out the sun's rays. The wind picked up and a dark mist began surrounding him. Sonic began panicking as he stared down at his blood stained gloves. The fresh blood seeped between his fingers, dripping off him into large puddles beneath his feet. Sonic choked, sobbed and gagged at the sight. No. He didn't want to hurt anybody. He couldn't do it. He closed his eyes tight, refusing to see anymore. _

"_Just take a quick peak." His own voice taunted him. "It is the blood you spilled. You should be proud."_

"_How can I be proud?!" Sonic shrieked into the roaring wind, his eyes still tightly closed. "Look at the devastation I caused!"_

"_Yes, the devastation _you _caused. Just look. Look beneath your feet. I think you'll see something you like." _

_Sonic couldn't resist the temptation. He slowly opened one eye before they both shot open in horror. Right in front of him, face down in the pool of blood, was Amy. He cried out in sorrow as he ran towards her and collapsed on top of her pale body, wanting to die right there with her. _

"_You see?" His own voice teased him again. "You really hurt her. You're never going to get away from what you've done." _

_No. No. No. No._

NO!

"Noooo!" Sonic cried out as his eyes snapped open. He panted as a cold sweat dripped down his body as his guts felt like they were being twisted around inside him. His eyes darted around the familiar simple room he was staying at in GUN's facilities where he was being kept under surveillance.

It was just a dream. Another night terror.

He had been having a lot of those since…everything that had happened. Often similar in content that he never dared tell anyone about. He couldn't look weak. Not in front of the people he cared about. The doctors and nurses here, they poked him, prodded him. Acted as if he was time bomb waiting to go off. He hated it. But he endured for the sake of their reassurance…and his.

His breathing finally began to calm, but he flinched slightly as the door to his room slowly opened. He sighed in relief as Amy poked her head through and softly smiled at him.

"Hey," She whispered as she timidly entered the room with worry in her eyes. "I heard you screaming in your sleep again. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Sonic managed to choke out.

Amy nodded as tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of Sonic in such a state.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" Sonic managed to ask after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Amy nodded again without saying a word before she approached him, sat on the bed and slowly curled up next to him. Sonic quickly wrapped his arms around her, latching onto her as if she was the only stable thing around him. He pressed his face into her quills and inhaled her sweet scent. His body began to stop shaking as Amy wrapped one arm around his torso and pressed her face against his chest. She wished they could stay in this position forever. Where they could just comfort each other in their embrace forever.

"I'm so sorry Sonic." Amy whimpered as her tears soaked into his fur.

Sonic gently shushed her before resting his chin on the top of her head. "It wasn't your fault. You weren't know any of this would happen. None of us did."

"Now things are never going to be the same." Amy tried to contain her sobs.

Sonic took a while to answer. "No I suppose not…but things will improve. Everything has a funny way of making itself right again. Kinda like a cut. It might not be the same skin that covers that hole again, but at least the damage has been repaired."

Amy sighed. "Except that it leaves a scar."

"But those scars only prove how strong we are." Sonic replied. "They're symbol of survival."

"So we're going to get through this?" Amy asked, looking worried again.

"Together, yes." Sonic answered as he kissed the top of Amy's head. "Because you're my light in the darkness."

* * *

THE END

* * *

**So…yeah…that's it. Before any of you ask, no I won't be doing a sequel to this story, sorry. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed and added this story to their favourites list. It's what inspired me to keep going. And even if you're just an invisible reader, thank you to you as well. I don't care if it's years in the future, still feel free to leave a review. **

**Now onwards I go to future projects! Information about that is available on my profile. If anyone has checked my profile recently, then you'll know that I'm a member of the group 'Sonic Overdrive'. We have just created a fanfiction profile where my collaborations with my good friends Jowy Avilon and aliixo will be published soon. In the meantime, feel free to check out their solo work and also my older work if you crave more Sonic and Sonamy. Thanks again! **


End file.
